Man City and PSG should be expelled from European competition, says La Liga president
La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are in danger of “ruining the entire system” as he urges UEFA to expel them from European competition.
Tebas, who was at one point linked with the vacant chief executive role for the Premier League following the departure of Richard Scudamore, has claimed the two powerhouses have made football “no longer sport”.
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- Man City are owned by Emirati royal Sheikh Mansour, while PSG are backed by the State of Qatar.
- City have spent lavishly since being taken over by Abu Dhabi owners in 2008, and are currently facing an investigation by UEFA for an alleged breach of FFP.
- The North West club have denied any and all wrongdoing, but should they be found guilty, their Champions League status could be revoked.
- Tebas has now revealed he would not be surprised if City were to incur such a sanction, but has also suggested PSG should face a similar fate.
- The Parisians have spent precipitously in the market which Tebas believes is endangering the industry.
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City, supported in the market by their Abu Dhabi owners, clinched an unprecedented domestic treble this season, while PSG – under similar financial backing – clinched another Ligue 1 title.
Pep Guardiola has been flush with cash and able to flex the club’s financial might where he sees fit since his appointment in 2016, spending around £500m to assemble one of the greatest sides English football has ever seen.
Meanwhile, PSG possess two of world football’s most expensive players, in Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who they signed from Barcelona for £198m and Monaco for £116m respectively.
As such, Tebas believes the two European tycoons are diluting the market with excessive spending, jeopardising the integrity of the industry as a result.
“If we allow money that comes in that isn’t generated by the industry itself, and it’s money coming from states, this is no longer sport,” Tebas said at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.
“This is no longer an industry.
“It becomes more like the toy, the plaything of a state. And when it’s a plaything, kids start playing with other kids. You end up ruining the entire system. This is what PSG, Man City or clubs with lots of money can put the entire industry at risk which is what really Uefa should have been working on.
“Because the origin of this entire problem is the inflationary effect that Man City and PSG have created across the whole of Europe and the rest of the clubs in Europe want money to compete with these guys.”
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‘City and PSG should be banned’
City are currently facing an investigation by UEFA for an alleged breach of Financial Fair Play, which could result in a ban from European competition, which Tebas has overwhelmingly advocated for.
“I don’t know what sanctions will fall upon Manchester City but I would not be surprised by any sanction,” he said.
“If it was based upon what we have already denounced publicly then we think it should be [a ban], just as PSG should also be outside of European competitions.”
