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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

8. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

And now?

Spanish football is in turmoil. In March 2011 six clubs threatened strike action due to a dispute with the government over free-to-air television matches, in addition to the dissatisfaction with the widespread broadcasting deal dispute. The latest vice-president of the LFP resigned as a result.

The current president, Jose Luis Astiazaran, is under pressure to quit and Javier Tebas, the former vice-president, described him as “lacking leadership”.

Though Tebas says he has enough on his plate, he is not ruling out the possibility of one day taking over from Astiazaran as the head of the LFP: “I have enough problems, this is not on my agenda. (But) It is an option. You cannot throw these options away.”

Tebas believes no other country in world football has as much political in-fighting as Spain and that he sees no end to this. He said: “There will always be conflict between the clubs and the governing body and these problems are unique to Spain.”

The problem lies mainly in that all the power lies with Barcelona and Real Madrid. The rest are nowhere. Not just the other clubs, but the governing bodies too.

Some improvements are on the way as Tebas confirmed: “Right now they (Barcelona and Real Madrid) are getting 49% of the overall money from television.” The other eighteen clubs share the remaining 51%. “But there’s an agreement in place with them (Barca and Real) to reduce that 49% share to 34%. The smaller clubs have signed this with Barcelona and Real Madrid.” Nevertheless, this new arrangement is still three years away from taking hold.

Moreover, Spanish football writer Sid Lowe is not convinced it is a done deal. He said: “It's a proposal at the moment, not yet tied as I understand it.“

The Premier League offer ‘parachute’ payments to relegated clubs as a way of softening the financial blow that comes from not being in the top division. Tebas’ latest work has been arranging a similar proposition in Spain, using the 15% of television money generated from the newly devised deal.

This, Tebas says, is vital for those clubs as without it they could go out of business. “This is important as the money will help prevent them from disappearing.”

But it is not enough. Currently in England the top clubs, like Manchester United and Chelsea, enjoy approximately an 11% share (between them) from the Premier League’s television deal with Sky, ESPN the BBC. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool, for example, enjoy the same percentage from that deal.

The Bundesliga operates in a similar way to the Premier League where the governing body deal with the television companies, rather than the clubs on an individual basis.

Tebas is hopeful that this will one day be the case in Spain.

However, if the status quo remains, and clubs such as Barca and Real can negotiate their own deal, then there could be big trouble for the other clubs in Spain, and we are not just talking about your Malagas and Real Sociedads. Valencia, Spain’s third most successful club since the turn of the millennium, are in dire straits due to the financial downturn and an inability to move to a new stadium.

Imagine Arsenal, England’s third most successful club, facing a similar fate and it gives Valencia’s plight some context.

Tebas would not commit to naming Valencia as a club he feared for but clearly they were at the forefront of his mind when asked about the next five years. “I’m not going to identify a particular club but there are certain clubs that could disappear.”

So, not necessarily Valencia, but a team of similar ilk could cease to exist? “Yes, yes, yes,” came the unequivocal response. “That level of team, there is the possibility it could disappear,” Tebas added.

These are harrowing words, not least because they come from someone in such an esteemed position, but also because there are so few who have such a vantage point with which to judge.

There are more clubs in administration in Spain than there are in England. Sid Lowe expanded upon this: “Over the last few years a huge number of clubs have ended up in administration. Real Sociedad, Celta Vigo, Real Vallecano.”

La Liga has to change, and it has to change soon, before it finds itself, and some of its member clubs, staring into the abyss.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

7. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

La Liga is in fine fettle - the arguments against

There is, of course, a strong case to suggest there is no need to be concerned about the health of the Spanish league.

For a start, Javier Tebas stated that he is confident of a resolution to the television deal. Currently, Real and Barca enjoy a 49% share of the money from broadcasting, although Tebas is optimistic that their portion will diminish to 34% by the 2014/15 season.

Tebas said: “We’re working towards a similar situation to that in England.”

In England the governing body, the Premier League, deal with the money from broadcasting rights and then distribute the monies in a more even manner. “In three or four years it will be like that in Spain,” Tebas affirmed.

Mind you, Tebas would say that. No lawyer would admit to having little chance of winning his case. Acknowledging the chances of victory are slim would only hinder his argument.

The former LFP vice-president also claimed that this period of dominance from the big two is nothing new. Historically, they are Spain’s two most successful clubs with 51 La Liga titles between them.

Tebas said: “It’s been 60 years that these two clubs have been at the top in Spain so it is not just because of the television money. Even throughout these years there have been occasions when the competition has been good and that someone else (other than the big two) have been at the top.”

Their supremacy is nothing new, but the distance between them and the rest has reached an unprecedented level. Never has the gap been so wide and it is showing no signs of abating. In the 2009/10 season they both recorded a record points haul and last season was more of the same.

In addition, they both reached the last four of the Champions League and, arguably, would have met in the final had they been kept apart in the draw. Of the three major trophies on offer to the top Spanish clubs (the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and La Liga), all ended up in the hands of Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Phil Ball, author of Morbo: the story of Spanish football, argues that Tebas will succeed as the rest of Spanish football demands it and, therefore, Barca and Real will have to respond to that demand. In turn, the fans will demand it too.

He said: “I think Tebas is right. In three or four years from now the money from television will be more evenly spread.

“Barca and Madrid can argue that, given that they generate all this (TV) money anyway, that they should have that amount (49%) of the pie. (But) I don’t see how you can sustain that argument over a long period because if the league continues, if the bridge continues (to widen), then by the nature of logic the league becomes less competitive and it messes up those who are at the top of it – Barca and Madrid. In the end they have a vested interest in the league being competitive.”

This would ring true in most other countries but in Spain things are a little different. Not least because the fans tolerate the dominance of the big two far more than in any other country due to what has been termed ‘second club syndrome’. This is where many Spaniards support one of Real or Barca in addition to their local club. And this devotion is evenly split which enables them to tolerate the lack of competitiveness within La Liga.

When asked to confirm the theory of ‘second club syndrome’, Grimsby fan Ball concedes: “That’s an interesting point. I had not thought of it like that because that’s definitely true. You can go to any pueblo (small town) in Spain and knock on the door and say: ‘who do you support – Barca or Real?’ and they’ll give you an answer. And the answer they give you is not always football based. It is a political, cultural answer. A lot of Spanish people won’t accept this argument but a lot of them do.”

Ball recognises that things have changed in recent years. He added: “Since the whole ‘galactico’ thing at the beginning of the century the face of Spanish football has changed. It was never like this (the gap between the big two and the rest) before. There was a feeling of democracy before but not now. You’ve got a three-tier league. There’s Barca, Real. Then there are those teams who aspire to reach the Champions League placings. Then there’s the rest.”

There is an equally strong argument that suggests it is just two tiers – Barca/Real and the rest. It is more conceivable that any of the other eighteen Primera Liga clubs reach a Champions League spot (finish in the top four) than it is that Real or Barca fail to finish in the top two. This is quite a statement. Could you imagine Norwich City or Wigan Athletic qualifying for the world’s most prestigious club competition? No? Well this illustrates just how unlikely it is that Barca or Real will finish outside the top two this coming season and for the foreseeable future.

Tebas argues that it is only the last two years. More importantly, he adds, Barcelona are dominating with an exceptional team that has been made largely through an astonishingly successful youth scheme and good management, not through spending huge amounts of money on transfer fees.

He said: “Looking at Barca, their big stars were not bought, they were made in Barcelona.”

However, this is ignoring the massive signing on fees Barca pay and a world record in the history of sport on wages.

For the first time in history a football team, or make that two football teams, have topped such a list. The average wage for a first team player at the Nou Camp is £4.94m annually, and at Madrid £4.6m. The average Yankee earns £4.2m a year. So it is not just impeccable grooming that keeps Barcelona on top.

Finally, Barcelona crushed Manchester United at Wembley this year to be crowned Kings of Europe. Surely this augments the belief that Spanish football is in rude health.

However, Pep Guardiola is constantly linked with a move to English football due to a craving for the competitive nature of the football and Mourinho regularly refers to the Premier League in wistful tones. In addition, Arsene Wenger urged Cesc Fabregas to ignore the overtures of the Spanish giants if he is a competitive footballer.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

6. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

History of Spanish football and the politics behind it

“In Spain it is hard to do anything without their consent,” were the words from ex-vice president of the LFP, Javier Tebas, in a clear reference to significant political figures in the history of Spanish politics.

Affairs of the State have played a huge part throughout the history of Spanish football. As a result, this is of huge significance in understanding the background to the Spanish mindset in comparison with their Anglo-Saxon or German counterparts.

There are socio-economic and cultural reasons behind your choice of club in Spain which is largely different to England.

Phil Ball, author of Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football, explains: “You can go to any pueblo (small town) in Spain and say: who do you support – Barca or Real? And they’ll give you an answer. And the answer they give you is not really football based. It’s a political, cultural answer.

“I know you can go to a pueblo in Galicia and they’ll say ‘Madrid’. It’s sort of weird (in comparison to the UK). Whereas in Grimsby I might say my second team is West Brom and you might say: ‘why’s that?’ I don’t know. I just like the colours. There are no political reasons behind it.

Ball then gives an analogy to describe how divisive football is in Spain: “Maybe it’s like the Daily Mail and the Guardian reader on the train. There’s no way they’re going to talk to each other.

“If you say you’re from Ipswich, say, no Brit will think ‘Ipswich, bloody fascists! Those bastards! The national civil war etc.’ You just think ‘Ipswich… tractors!’“

Ball added: “As soon as someone says they are from so and so, an idea comes into a Spaniard’s head, like from Burgos etc slightly to the right etc. I was in a bar once and a similar thing happened. It was then I decided to write Morbo.”

In no other country in Western Europe are politics and football so intrinsically linked. Sure, Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Burlosconi and AC Milan have been a story involving two such subjects but this has been a more recent development. In Spain it has been like it since day one, shortly after the creation of the first club back in 1889 – Recreativo Huelva. They were born out of English copper mine workers determination to bring the beautiful game to the country they were temporarily inhabiting.

Phil Ball writes in his book, Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (Phil Ball, Morbo, page 40, 2003):

The locals would have learned the game from the British workers who had already begun to make their way north in those early days of the mines, but who would have spent time in the port of Huelva before travelling up by horse-drawn carriage to the copper reserves.

Soon to follow were Barcelona, from Catalunya, and Athletic Bilbao, from the Basque country. The latter of which still to this day proudly claim to have always had Basque players play for them. Historically, they are Spain’s fourth most successful club an achievement all the more remarkable considering the area they select their players from consists of just three million.

The first league championship, however, was not contested until 1927, by which time various other clubs had entered the fray, including Real Madrid. As it so happens, Barca won that first championship.

When discussing the history of Spanish football the figure of Spanish dictator Bobby Franco cannot be ignored.

Franco started appearing at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real’s stadium, as much as a publicity stunt as anything, having been encouraged by his aides that it might make him more popular if he is seen to be interested, not just in the game, but the team of the capital who were enjoying a period of success at the time – Real Madrid.

When interviewed, Phil Ball explained: “Real Madrid became the team of the regime via a series of co-incidences really. Franco wasn’t particularly interested in football. Madrid started winning and so somebody suggested it would be a good idea to be seen in the Bernabeu.

“It’s like when Tony Blair pretended to be a Newcastle fan. Just a publicity stunt to earn favour.”

Much is made of Franco’s influence on Spanish football and, in particular, Real’s success.

Sir Alex Ferguson once described Madrid as ‘Franco’s club’, which explains why the Manchester United boss is despised by media and fans alike in the Spanish capital.

Real had a remarkable period of success during Franco’s time but this owed much to the ability of the players they had, including Di Stefano, as it did to any intervention from the fascist dictator.

Phil Ball elaborates: “Barca had a great side in the 1950s, yet the reason they didn’t win stuff was because that’s when Madrid had their best side. The 50s is a bit like now. They were both fantastic. It’s just that Madrid were a bit better. They had Di Stefano. What’s the difference now? Barca have got Messi. All this crap about them (Barcelona) being oppressed and not being able to function – it’s not entirely true, only partly.”

He does concede that the dictator did have an influence, even if it was, more often than not, subliminal. “I think because people under a police state don’t behave normally,” Ball said. “There’s plenty of examples of that. Under a fascist police state, it’s not a question of Franco saying ‘go and pay that referee to influence this game’. It is just that people know that if they show dis-favour towards the team of the regime (Real Madrid) then they might suddenly find they have lost their jobs, not that they’re going to get chucked in the river with cement but a police state influences, doesn’t matter where it is, people’s behaviour.”

Ball does concede, however, that the acquisition of Di Stefano, the equivalent of Messi in his day, was thanks largely to Franco’s influence.

“It’s not been proved,” Ball added. “But it does look like a pretty blatant case (that Real’s acquisition of Di Stefano was as a result of Franco’s influence). Not even Di Stefano has admitted it but yeah (his signature was as a result of corruption).”

Franco perhaps did affect things on the pitch from time to time, though as Phil Ball wrote in Morbo:

(Ball, 2003)
The director of security went into their (Barcelona’s) dressing room before the game and allegedly told the team that some of them were only playing because of the regime’s generosity in permitting them to remain in the country.

The author then gives an example to back up his point. “If you’re living in San Sebastian and you say you support Real Madrid, it’s complicated.” This complication comes from the fact that San Sebastian is based in the Basque country, an area heavily suppressed during the Franco regime, including the language of the locals being banned. Franco’s allegiances to the capital and Real Madrid are heavily documented, as was the responsibility of the Basque terrorist group, ETA, in the fascist dictator’s downfall.

Phil Ball documents it eloquently in Morbo as he describes, not just the way ETA brought about change, but also the feeling if enmity towards the capital and all it stands for:
(Ball, 2003)
Franco suppressed the Basque language just as fervently as Catalan and, despite bluster in the annals of Catalan resistencia history, it was the Basques who really did him harm. ETA’s violence was a lurking threat from the Sixties onwards, which occasionally came spectacularly into the open. Two years before Franco’s death, the Basque separatists killed Admiral Carrero Blanco, eliminating the man who had been most likely to carry on the old dictator’s legacy and striking a death blow to the image of invulnerability the regime had enjoyed for so long.

There was so much dynamite packed into the bomb that blew up his car in a Madrid side-street in December 1973 that the vehicle actually took off and landed on the roof of one of the overlooking buildings, an event still celebrated in Basque nationalist circles by a song which begins ‘He flew, he flew…’ It was sung regularly when  Real Madrid visited either Real Sociedad or Athletic Bilbao during the late Seventies, the period now officially termed the transicion – meaning the transition to democracy and the election of Felipe Gonzalez’s Socialist party. Most young Basques of that generation still know the song, and the tune is so pretty that some fathers may still sing their children to sleep to it – especially on the night before a game against the old enemy.

After Franco football continued to thrive. If anything, his demise saw football gain a broader and more enhanced appeal.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

5. Scotland in the sun: How La Liga’s problems are more than just skin deep

The media

Though there is no clear evidence to suggest the media embellishes Barca’s and Real’s superiority,  but they certainly do not do it any harm.

In recent times Madrid-based daily Marca have been known to delete players, or even adjust lines on the pitch, to illustrate refereeing bias towards arch-rivals Madrid.

Javier Tebas certainly feels as though the lesser lights get a raw deal from the media. He said: “The newspapers actually focus completely on Barcelona and Real and this is bad for the smaller teams as well. El Pais as well.”

The Guardian’s Spanish football writer Sid Lowe suggested a rational reason behind the media bias. He said: “One of the reasons the media are so biased in Spain is because it is an economic decision. It’s based on what they believe their market is.”

But it does give for uncomfortable reading at times as he confirms: “It’s very unpleasant to read sometimes but Marca and AS, who are very pro Real Madrid, are like this because they believe it helps their sales. They think it helps their sales because these two teams dominate so much and very few people want neutrality, even those who, in theory, are neutrals. For example, take a Real Zaragoza fan and, in theory, he’s not interested in partisan reporting on Madrid or Barcelona, but in practice, the chances are that when Madrid plays Barcelona he always wants the same team to win. It’s not that he likes the way one of them plays or a certain player. Therefore he’s a fan of sorts.”