© EuroFootball.com
The course of development of Spanish football needs to change radically, otherwise the consequences could be very painful, says one of the country's most prominent football economists Jose Maria Gay de Liebana.
According to the famous professor, the growth of club revenues is insufficient compared to the increasing expenses.
"If this continues, Spanish football will destroy itself," de Liebana said. "A year ago, I predicted that the Spanish league had about ten years left, now I would say five would be a good achievement."
He continued: "The rights to broadcast the Spanish championship are being sold using a bad concept, where two operators share it. In other European countries, there is only one. Also, there is too much emphasis on the Chinese market and the United States and Japan are forgotten."
He also urged to create a championship for the Iberian Peninsula together with neighboring Portugal: "Now the Spanish league is not as interesting. With Portuguese teams like "Porto", "Benfica" and "Sporting", there would be much more charm. Meanwhile, splitting into, for example, a championship of the Catalan region would be a financial tragedy."
