CVC Capital Partners’ deal to buy a stake in Spain’s top football league may end up in court as one of the country’s most storied clubs said it would take legal action against the private equity firm.
Real Madrid’s board of directors agreed to initiate both civil and criminal proceedings against CVC, the club said on Tuesday.
The move follows CVC’s agreement last week to invest €2.7 billion ($3.2bn) in La Liga in return for a 10 per cent stake in a new company housing all of the Spanish football league’s businesses, subsidiaries and joint ventures. CVC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the fan-owned clubs with the highest number of Champions League and La Liga trophies, opposed the deal last week. Real Madrid said this agreement, “by way of a misleading structure, expropriates 10.95 per cent of the clubs’ audiovisual rights for the next 50 years, in breach of the law”.
Barcelona president Joan LaPorta said that the club could have renewed the contract of Lionel Messi if it had backed the deal, but that doing so would affect the club’s broadcast rights for decades.
The meeting to decide whether the agreement with CVC goes ahead will take place on August 12. La Liga needs 22 out of 42 first and second division clubs for the signing to happen. The only other team to oppose the deal so far is Athletic Bilbao, according to media reports.
Real Madrid will also seek legal action against La Liga president Javier Tebas and CVC managing partner for Spain and Italy Javier de Jaime.
La Liga “reiterates that it has all the favourable legal reports that confirm maximum compliance with the legal system”, the Spanish league said on Tuesday.
It also said that Real Madrid directors are trying to prevent other teams from expressing their view on the deal by use of coercion and threats.
The Spanish league said that Real Madrid had filed 51 legal actions over recent years, “a majority of which have been won by La Liga” – including some related to broadcasting rights.
“CVC presented La Liga [with] a transaction that aims to create value for Spanish football as a whole,” representatives for the private equity firm said.
Real Madrid’s announcement is “disproportionate” and lacks a legal basis, and CVC would reserve the right to take any action it deems necessary, it said.
The legal threat is the latest episode in the tussle between La Liga and its most highly decorated teams after both Real Madrid and Barcelona joined forces with other top European clubs – including Chelsea and Italy’s Juventus – in a failed attempt to create a SuperLeague.
The teams promoting the project were looking to secure higher revenue but the plan was shelved after adverse reaction from fans, politicians and their respective domestic leagues, including La Liga, which argued it would have a negative effect on the game as a whole.
While CVC has successfully invested in sports including motor bike racing, volleyball and rugby, it has struggled with previous football deals. The private equity firm tried and failed to invest in Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
THE SPECS
Jaguar F-Pace SVR
Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Price: Dh465,071
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PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
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Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
'Lost in Space'
Creators: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Irwin Allen
Stars: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins
Rating: 4/5
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
