Javier Tebas will be back as La Liga boss – after his ‘tactical resignation’ – The Athletic

There was never any doubt that Javier Tebas was set for four more years as La Liga president.

Tebas has been on leave since officially resigning a fortnight ago, but he returned provisionally to the post on Tuesday and the 61-year-old is set to have a fourth mandate until December 2027 confirmed next week.

Tebas’ resignation on November 22 was a tactical move to facilitate a quick and clean return in time for a key period over the coming month. His previous mandate was due to expire on December 23 — two days after the European Court of Justice is expected to reach a final verdict on the validity of the European Super League.

Under La Liga statutes, an electoral commission was formed to manage the process of appointing La Liga’s boss.

This was composed of five clubs drawn at random (Rayo Vallecano, Girona, and Villarreal from the top flight, Leganes and Eibar from Spain’s second division). It was headed by Atletico Madrid chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin and former Levante president Quique Catalan.

The commission didn’t have to work too hard, as no other candidate put themselves forward. Four years ago, former Eibar president Alex Aranzabal launched a public candidacy but was unable to raise the required support from 11 clubs across Spain’s top two leagues. Nobody even seriously considered making a bid to rival Tebas this time around.

Such a lack of potential challengers might surprise some onlookers given Tebas has plenty of critics within Spanish football and beyond. His relationship with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is completely broken, while there have been many clashes with Barcelona chief Joan Laporta over issues such as La Liga’s salary cap rules.

There are also regular complaints within Spanish football over issues ranging from racism in stadiums, TV regulations, kick-off times and the huge CVC investment deal. But outside of the Clasico duo, the loudest criticism tends to come from fans of clubs, not their directors.

For example, this week, Rayo Vallecano’s official supporters’ group publically called for their club not to back Tebas’ return, and the Estadio Vallecas is one of several stadiums in which chants of ‘Tebas vete ya’ (‘Tebas go now’) are regularly heard. However, Rayo president Raul Martin Presa has always firmly supported him.

This can be explained by Tebas’ knowledge of Spanish football politics. The lawyer-by-trade was first elected in 2013 with the backing of the G30 group of mid-size and smaller Spanish clubs, some of which he had previously helped with bankruptcy proceedings (including Rayo).

During his time in office, Tebas has built strong alliances with many of the country’s most prominent football presidents and executives, including Atletico’s Gil Marin, Villarreal’s Fernando Roig, Sevilla’s Pepe Castro, and Valencia’s Peter Lim.

“Ninety-five per cent of the clubs are with him in an unbreakable way,” said one industry source, who does not always agree with Tebas’ decisions but admires his political skill and requested anonymity to protect relationships. “There is no debate (over who should be La Liga president).”

Tebas has been La Liga president since 2013 (Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Such unity was seen in December 2021 when 38 of 42 clubs voted in favour of La Liga’s €2billion (£1.7bn; $2.1bn) deal with investors CVC Capital Partners, one of the signature developments of Tebas’ presidency, with just Athletic Bilbao and Ibiza joining Madrid and Barca in opposition.

The vast majority of clubs also stood squarely with Tebas, and against Perez, during intense lobbying of the Spanish government when a new sports law was introduced in late 2022. During Luis Rubiales’ time as Spanish Football Federation president, clubs were often forced to choose between league and federation over many issues and almost all sided with Tebas.

This can be compared to how Tebas’ great rival, Perez, has an iron control over the presidency at Real Madrid. The La Liga chief himself refuted such an idea when speaking to The Athletic last June, saying he worked hard to show the clubs the work being done is in their interests, such as financial controls and sharing of TV income. “Some people say this is like a military barracks, but it’s not at all,” Tebas said.

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A recent example of how Tebas and La Liga’s executives respond to the needs and wishes of its member clubs came in November 2023, with tweaks to its salary limit regulations after some clubs said they wanted some more flexibility in spending money coming from investors or owners.

One big difference at La Liga’s Madrid headquarters in recent weeks has been that Tebas had to stay away. Once he resigned, he was not allowed to take any part in company business and was without the use of his company car or phone.

📈 LALIGA clubs continue to innovate and grow!

👀 Have you seen the new @RealBetis_en training centre?

🎯 A solid commitment to training and youth development. pic.twitter.com/7xyFjcEDyg

— LALIGA Corporativo (@LaLigaCorp) December 3, 2023

Monday evening’s deadline passed without any challenger emerging, allowing for Tebas’ provisional return to the role on Tuesday. He returned immediately to work and, barring an unlikely appeal against the electoral process, a fourth mandate up to December 2027 will be confirmed next week.

That means he will be officially back as head of La Liga in plenty of time to react to the European Court of Justice ruling about the European Super League, which is due on December 21. Tebas has been a very public opponent of the Florentino Perez-backed Super League since its failed launch in April 2021, speaking often about the threat to the current European football model and domestic leagues, even as most in the rest of Europe (especially in England) had assumed there was little to worry about.

Other issues which will continue during Tebas’ fourth mandate include ongoing battles against ‘state-owned’ clubs, such as Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City; against the Spanish FA over who organises refereeing; against UEFA and the European Club Association over their Champions League plans; and against FIFA over there being too many international games.

Tebas and those around him in La Liga are well aware of the reputation damage suffered, especially internationally, by the regular racism Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has suffered in multiple Spanish stadiums in recent years. After last May’s incident at Valencia’s Estadio Mestalla, La Liga has stepped up its efforts to identify and punish individuals caught on camera committing clear racist abuse. Although many, including Vinicius Jr himself, still feel they could do more about the issue.

La Liga employed 30 people when Tebas arrived, but it now has over 800 staff across areas such as marketing, software development and TV production. This is all part of a policy to evolve from being just an organiser of games into an industrial corporation that produces its own content and sells services to other sports and organisations. La Liga even has its own business school, restaurants and museums now.

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Tebas told The Athletic that a big objective for his fourth mandate was to be ready for “disruption” in audio-visual markets. This has meant a policy of taking more control of their ‘product’, especially the TV coverage of games. This has brought closer relationships with broadcasters and sponsors including Mediapro, Movistar, DAZN, ESPN and EA Sports, but also more conflict with Madrid and Perez over the distribution of the revenue generated.

There is no shortage of issues to tackle and battles to wage as Tebas settles back into his office on the seventh floor of La Liga’s glass-fronted building in the Spanish capital, while there remains very strong backing from the Primera and Segunda division clubs who, in theory anyway, are his bosses.

(Top photo: Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)