Florentino Pérez, president of the Spanish club Real Madrid, champion of the European Champions League, launched a violent attack on the International Federation (FIFA) and the European Federation (UEFA), during the club’s annual general assembly on Sunday.
The 77-year-old Los Blancos president was at war with the two ruling football federations over the Super League project that Real Madrid, Barcelona and other major European clubs tried to launch in 2021, and is considered a breakaway project from the Champions League.
Perez criticized the new and expanded Champions League system, which includes eight group stage matches instead of six, and an additional round of matches for some clubs.
He said: “The new Champions League system is unfair, no one understands it.”
He added: “As the number of matches increased, the value of each of them decreased by about 30%. There are more matches, but their value has become less,” considering that the competition will become interesting in its final stages and not at the beginning.
Pérez has often insisted that the Super League draft will save the sport, and emphasized in the assembly that he believes football is “seriously wounded” and that it has “never been in a more delicate position.”
Real’s president said he was “more optimistic than ever” about the possibility of holding the Super League after the European Court of Justice ruled last year that UEFA and FIFA’s ban on clubs from joining was illegal.
The summary of the ruling issued in December last year stressed that it does not necessarily mean that the Super League project should be licensed at the present time, but only that FIFA and UEFA are “abusing their positions” to dominate the football market.
Perez said: “The historic ruling, which will be studied in universities, put an end to the European Union’s monopoly on football.”
He added: “We never said it would be easy. It was huge, with pressure and threats.”
In his open war with the two federations, Perez blamed the increase in matches on the issue of players being injured and absent for long periods.
He believed, “This season we can play 82 matches. There are 63% of the matches organized by UEFA and FIFA, from 22 to 36.”
The man, who is considered one of the most important club presidents in the history of the game, pointed out that there were “nine cruciate ligament tears this season (in the Spanish League), which is the same number in the entire last season. Specialists believe that fatigue is one of the reasons.”
He also considered that “the matches are becoming more and more late, which makes it difficult for the players to rest and recover.”
Perez did not ignore the issue of the Best Player Award, which went to the Spanish Rodrigo, the Manchester City midfielder, instead of the Brazilian Vinicius Junior, the player for his club, who was the closest to many to win it.
He said: “Rodri is a great footballer… He deserves the MVP award, but not this year.”
He added: “They rewarded him this year for his performance last season… He deserved to win last year, when he won the treble with Manchester City.”
