Dubai: FC Barcelona vice-president Javier Faus has denied the gulf between themselves, Real Madrid and the rest of Spain’s La Liga is unfair.
Speaking on the sidelines of FC Barcelona’s partnership with United Arab Bank in Mirdif City Centre on Sunday, Faus said: “I think each club follows its own route and strategy. We were lucky, not only with Real but also other clubs in the league, to tackle a globalised market and that’s what’s given us the edge.
“There’s a lot of controversy surrounding TV rights and whether they are fairly distributed. We are lobbying the Spanish league to put a bit more balance on that, but even putting that balance will not close the gap on our two clubs. We are now globalised brands worldwide and that’s very difficult to compete with.”
Asked if that was to the detriment of Spanish football, with Barcelona and Real Madrid having claimed 54 of a total 82 Spanish league title’s since 1929 (three seasons were cancelled due to Civil War), Faus replied: “No, I don’t think so. You saw Barcelona and Valencia finished 3-2 and Real versus Granada ended 1-0 with both sides suffering until the end. So I think football is much more competitive than what people think.”
Faus went on to stress that FC Barcelona were in full support of Uefa’s financial fair play regulations, which seek to limit overspend and as a byproduct of that, restore parity.
“We are completely up to date and have no problem closing our books in the positive. We are closing books in a positive for the last few years and we pay all our obligations. It doesn’t mean you cannot pay a transfer — people are confused on that. It just means that you should close books on the green and not black and that’s what we have been doing.
“We inherited debt when we entered the club in 2010 of €440 million [Dh2.1 billion]. Right now we are on almost €300 million and we target to get below €200 million in two years. €200 million is a sustainable level. We have an debit of €120 million so for a ratio of one to 1.5 ratio to net debt is very sustainable.”
