La Liga have slammed the Premier League, claiming that the division is ‘cheating’ and undergoing ‘financial doping’ after the close of the January transfer window.
The 20 Premier League clubs spent over 800m euros on 92 new arrivals, with only Everton not making a signing, though they did rake in £45m for young talent Anthony Gordon. It was more than all other major leagues around Europe combined, with Ligue 1 the next highest at €127m, while the other three leagues all spent below €100m.
Chelsea’s spending in particular came under scrutiny, with the Blues splashing out over 600m euros since Todd Boehly took over in May 2022, culminating in a deadline day record transfer for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez. January’s spending set a new record, shelling out the most in any single season, a record held previously by Barcelona who spent a ‘measly’ 380m euros by comparison.
And La Liga Corporate General Javier Gomez, who has taken a hardline stance on finances around Barcelona in the previous 12 months, was quick to demand increased regulations from UEFA, who are already moving to exploit the amortisation loophole that the Blues exploited in recent months.
“We are aware there is a lot of talk about how LaLiga’s economic control means Spanish clubs sign less than Premier League clubs,” Gomez said. “Let’s explain what’s behind that. What’s the truth? The reality is that at LaLiga we want clubs to spend what they can afford and generate themselves, that is to say, their own revenues.
“It is true that shareholders are also allowed to support the club and put money in to spend more than the club itself can generate, but within certain limits.”
The opposite is true in the Premier League, he continued “The data is as follows: With data compared up to June 30, 2021, and across the five previous seasons, the PL and Championship -- top two tiers of English football -- lost €3bn. In that same time, the Spanish league lost -- we all suffered in the pandemic -- €250m. But what happened? During that same period, shareholders across the PL and Champ put in €3.5bn. Across that same period, shareholders in Spain put in €450m.
“What’s the issue? Essentially, they are ‘doping’ the club. They are injecting money not generated by the club for it to spend, which puts the viability of the club at risk if the shareholder leaves. In our opinion, that is cheating, because it drags down the rest of the leagues.
“That is our fight, demanding that UEFA implements a new economic regulation that prevents the shareholder of a club from putting in more than a certain amount and that it enforces this rule and sanctions non-compliant clubs. It doesn’t matter which league or country it is, they should sanction clubs that don’t comply with this regulation.”
