February 13 – La Liga and Serie A are in battle for the services of Javier Tebas, the longstanding and mercurial Spanish league president. The Italian league has made an approach to lure him away from Spain.
Tebas has been a driving force behind La Liga’s growth in recent seasons. The Spaniard is often controversial in his views and remarks, but that hasn’t stopped the Serie A coveting his abilities. Luigi De Siervo, chief executive of Serie A advisors Infront, confirmed that Tebas had been made an offer by the Italian league to become its new chief executive. The offer is believed to have been a four-year contract with a salary of €1.2 million per annum.
Spanish sports newspaper AS reported that La Liga were prepared to match Serie A’s offer. Tebas revealed in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport that he was seriously considering the Italian offer.
“I love the challenge,” said Tebas. “Work does not scare me; rather, it stimulates me. That’s why the Italian proposal fascinates me so much. I know there is so much to do because I have known some clubs and I have studied the situation. The problem is another. We’ll see what my family thinks about the issue.”
Recently, Serie A awarded their domestic broadcast rights to Spanish company Mediapro, in a deal worth €3 billion over three seasons. In the same Gazzetta interview, Tebas was forced deny links between Mediapro president Jaume Roures and his son Javier Tebas Llanas.
“It is not true that he sells advertising for shows managed by Mediapro,” explained Tebas. “My son works for the company that produces a television programme aired on a Mediapro channel. But Mediapro has nothing to do with that company and in any case does not sell advertising, manage the social profiles of the producers or influence the company.”
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