R/Madrid, Barcelona push alternative €2bn investment plan

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao have written to fellow LaLiga clubs proposing a €2 billion investment plan, which they claim is a superior alternative to the league’s own deal with CVC Capital Partners.

The CVC deal which has the support of the other 39 clubs in Spain’s first and second divisions was initially approved in August despite the opposition of Madrid, Barca and Athletic, with a final vote due on Dec. 10.

The new proposal would involve JP Morgan, Bank of America and HSBC jointly lending clubs €2bn at a cost of between 2.5 and 3% interest over 25 years.

That compares to a 50-year period for LaLiga’s CVC agreement, which would see the investment fund receive 11% of the league’s income from TV rights.

The clubs published details of their proposal on their websites on Friday, saying LaLiga’s plan “would damage the future of our football” and offering a “long-term, sustainable, rational and legal” alternative which they said, depending on how much the league’s income grows over time, would be between five and 193 times more economical.

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LaLiga president Javier Tebas responded with a letter to clubs on Friday describing the proposal as “an attempt to break the consensus and generate uncertainty, with the only objective of safeguarding the selfish interests of a few against the common benefit of the majority.”Madrid and Barcelona have been vocal critics of the CVC deal.

The three clubs were excluded from the CVC deal in August, when last-minute changes were made to the plans ahead of voting to ensure they would receive no money and see no impact on their share of TV rights income.