LaLiga chief claims Fifa supremo Gianni Infantino IS behind Super League plans despite public criticism
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been branded the puppet master behind the Super League project which threatens to rip up the fabric of European football. Infantino publicly warned players they will be banned from the World Cup and European Championships if their clubs form the proposed closed shop breakaway. But LaLiga boss Javier Tebas has […]
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been branded the puppet master behind the Super League project which threatens to rip up the fabric of European football.
Infantino publicly warned players they will be banned from the World Cup and European Championships if their clubs form the proposed closed shop breakaway.
But LaLiga boss Javier Tebas has been handed documents circulating among would-be Super League members that he believes PROVE Infantino has been actively orchestrating the entire plan.
And the Spaniard says the Swiss leader of the world game has hidden behind a secret code name.
According to Tebas, the secret documents, which were drafted last year and have been circulating among leading clubs for weeks, point to the controlling interests of ‘W01’.
That stands, Tebas is convinced, for ‘World Number One’ — Gianni Infantino.
Tebas said: “It is obvious that Gianni Infantino has been party to meetings and hosted the club organisation to be able to work on the Super League.
“He has been working on it and has even been encouraging them to set it up.
“In the documents that we have related to the Super League there is the mention of a code name W01, which clearly refers to Mr Infantino. That is his code name.
“If I am wrong, I will apologise. But we have information and the facts seem to be there. I think people are telling me the truth.
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“In the documents there are certain dates that are being held back for the Club World Cup, each January.
“Twelve European teams, the top five from each of the two groups, with four teams playing off for the other two places.
“It’s obvious that people who are helping Real Madrid with that were not going to be providing that data unless they knew that Infantino had this information.
“He is not against it. He thought the project was OK.
“So he should urgently clarify his personal position, to explain exactly why he was at some of the meetings and encouraged the project at certain points in time.”
Tebas’ allegations come with the Costa Rica-born Spaniard suggesting Manchester United and Liverpool have made a Devil’s pact with Infantino — along with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez — that will turn football from a dream factory into a one-dimensional TV show.
He accused United owners in the form of Joel Glazer, Liverpool’s John Henry, plus Ivan Gazidis, who moved from being chief executive at Arsenal to the same role at AC Milan, of colluding with Perez and Infantino.
Fifa have consistently denied any involvement in the project, put together with the backing of US financial giant JP Morgan.
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Only last week, Infantino, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin plus the other five Confederation presidents signed a joint statement warning that any players who were part of a breakaway would be banned from the World Cup or European Championships.
Tebas, though, insists that Infantino’s denials, like those emanating from Old Trafford and Anfield — or should that be Tampa Bay and Boston? — are less than truthful.
Indeed, not only were the discussions ongoing through the winter, they are about to officially be made public. Tebas, 58, said: “The documents I have say it’s going to be announced in February, next month.
“It says they are going to sell the broadcasting rights in March and it’s all going to start in 2022.
“I’m not sure about that. These clubs have been involved in decisions about Champions League broadcasting rights between 2021 and 2024 and will have to break away from that.
“Some of the other clubs knew about the project, while others didn’t even know about it or that it existed.
“But a club, even if they could be against it, will say, ‘Well, let’s see what happens and what is going on because if it does come off, we don’t want to be left out’.
“Of course, it is not clear that the money exists. It’s easy to talk about it and harder to generate.
“But even if there is more money in the short or medium term for these clubs, in the longer term it is not good for football or for them.
Of course, if it is a closed league then obviously the values will go up for these clubs
Javier Tebas
“It is interesting for the American-owned clubs, for Manchester United, Liverpool or Milan, to have US funds behind them or Inter Milan with their Chinese funds.
“Of course, if it is a closed league then obviously the values will go up for these clubs — but I do not believe the broadcasting rights will go up as much as they keep saying.
“And, more importantly, it would destroy the ecosystem and the balance of European football.”
The self-confessed Real Madrid fan added: “We believe it would cost LaLiga £1.4billion in revenue and the value of our clubs would go down by more.
“And the Premier League has double the turnover.
“So the other 14 clubs in England would lose maybe £3bn — because they can’t qualify for European competitions any more.”