The league president insists he won’t stand idly by while football is threatened by wanton spending and financial mismanagement
“When we go for a coffee afterwards, most people agree with me.” Javier Tebas is reflecting on why, in the polarised world of European football, it sometimes feels he is the only major player speaking out against the sport’s direction.
The La Liga president’s job title renders him inescapably part of the establishment: for almost 11 years he has overseen the second-richest league in the world. But few executives at his level are as prepared to upset the apple cart, to vehemently question the growing imbalances that risk distancing top-level football from all bar an elite few.