Javier Tebas assesses the direction football is taking and the challenges the game faces during the Second Communication and Sports Conference

The La Liga president gave a speech entitled 'The challenges facing professional football, the new path, in which he analysed the various issues affecting football in Spain. Javier Tebas expressed his certainty that the Royal Decree for the distribution of television rights in football "will be passed soon", although he declared that an exact timeframe has yet to be established. In this respect, the LFP president made mention of the precarious financial situations certain Liga Adelante clubs are currently faced with, among them R. Racing C.

Answering questions from those in attendance about the match-fixing allegations surrounding the Levante UD - Real Zaragoza fixture, which is still in judicial proceedings, Javier Tebas pointed out, "there was bribery involved with that match, however, that needs to be corroborated judicially". The president of the LFP categorically stated that "not everything can be permitted in football" and reiterated that La Liga will continue to safeguard the purity of the competition.

Later in his speech, Tebas referred to the measures being undertaken by La Liga to eradicate violence inside and outside stadiums. The president expressed his satisfaction at the positive results achieved so far and declared "the response has been a lot quicker than we had expected". An example of this is the drop in the amount of xenophobic and racist chants heard during football games.

Kick off times were also discussed during Javier Tebas’s speech. According to the president, "this issue is not killing football" and pointed to figures showing "a 5% increase in attendance figures compared with last season".

In the opinion of the president of the LFP, piracy is "one of the biggest problems" football is faced with and warned that if it continues at its current rate, revenue will decrease and "La Liga will turn into a minority league".