Let's get this straight. If anybody accuses me of agreeing with Rosell just because he is the club president, then they are completely off their rocker. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the guy but for once, I agree with President Rosell on this issue. Times have changed these past few decades that have resulted in more games on players. Reducing the leagues down to 16 is a step in the right direction.
Before I get into this topic, I just wanted to mention to the Miami Penya members and followers that we are working hard on bringing back the site online following the attack from some juvenile hackers. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.
Yesterday, FC Barcelona’s president Sandro Rosell spoke about the current state of our beloved La Liga at the International Football Arena conference that was being hosted in Zurich. Rosell did not sugar coat how bad the teams are financially in Spain and suggested that there should be a better TV deal in the near future. That was something that many agree as a step in the right direction but he surprised many when he suggested that the league should be reduced from 20 to 16 teams.
Rosell argued that less teams leads to an increase in competition which results in better players for fewer teams. However, some other media outlets also caught another version of his comments where it was reported that he said, “This will mean that all the clubs will be more competitive and we can reduce players' salaries.” The idea that with lesser teams, the talent would be more spread out seems believable but I don’t buy the reducing the players’ salaries and I checked on both Sport & Mundo Deportivo and even Marca and none of them had that comment so looks like the club’s legal department will have to get busy and draft some letters soon if some overzealous writer got too excited with his google translate when he fabricated those statements "allegedly".
Today’s footballers are subjected to more games than they were in the past. The last five years, Xavi has played over 50 games in all competitions. Let’s not forget the additional matches he has played for Spain and it’s not hard to feel concerned about the long term fitness of the likes of Iniesta and Messi. We need to cut down on matches for the sake of our players. That’s why I wasn’t that shocked when Rosell said we need to reduce the number of teams in Spain. I made the same suggestion back in 2003. (Just ignore my views about the Cups - way too naive back then)
“…we must have 16 teams participating in the leagues. I strongly disagree with Italy's move for 20 teams in Serie A. With 16, we would have 4 teams to face the risk of relegation and the remaining 12 teams battle it out for spots in UEFA Champion's League and UEFA Cup and also battle to avoid being relegated. What is the point of having a team positioned 13th in their league that knows there is no chance for qualifying into Europe or face the risk of relegation. With 16 teams, there would be excitement through the season and every game would then matter. The games would be divided into 16 games to be played in a format of 2 games a week and the other 16 games to be played once a week. Thus, we would have 6 weeks of two games a week and 4 months of single week games. Additionally, I would impose a 2 week winter break for players and coaches to be with their families to celebrate their respective religious holidays and the new year. Now with this format, players would not feel all that fatigued …. This would cut down on fatigue of those teams who are playing in their league cup games, league games and European competitions games as well.”
Usually, Guardiola rests his key starters for Copa Del Rey matches until the final stages. The fixture lists have grown over the years. Barça won their first Champions League title after playing 11 matches in 1992 but they had to play 15 matches last season to win it. Also back then, there were only 33 countries qualifying to win Euro 92. Now, we had 51 countries try to qualify for this summer’s Euro 2012.
With FIFA adding more international friendlies along with international qualifiers mean our players are basically playing nonstop and those club summer preseason tours are not helping. Guardiola’s two Champions League titles came in seasons without any international tournaments in the summer. Those successful teams had the luxury of playing most of the season only once a week. However, when there is a tournament in the summer, that luxury evaporates like an ice cube in the Sahara desert and we have to watch our Blaugrana players play an unforgiving relentless schedule consisting of two matches a week for over a month. Of course, Guardiola did provide us with that great zinger yesterday when he said that extra free time would be used up by FIFA.
How is that beneficial to the long term health of the league when its star players pay the price for playing in Europe and for their country? Reducing the league to 16 teams would allow teams to play once a week and not subject themselves to the tireless schedule we are witnessing this season. This also plays a part in the TV revenue sharing. Fewer teams mean a bigger piece of the pie for the other clubs.
According to Sky’s Revista De La Liga program, Barça and Real Madrid each get €140 million annually from their TV deals. That’s €280 million out of €609 million that is shared with the other 18 teams and those shares are not equal. However, if the league is reduced to 16 teams, then the other teams would get a bigger share of the TV deal. However, I still don’t believe that more money would solve all the problems the other clubs are facing. If their poor management and spending got many of the clubs, such as Real Zaragoza, in the mess that they are in, then how would more money make a difference? If they have so much debt, it would mean the extra money, if not all of it, would have to go towards paying off that debt and not into strengthening their squads.
A Villarreal fan said it best in a post that I nicked from an online forum.
“None of this matters unless the terrible, corrupt, and inept people currently in power are stripped of their positions. I think almost everyone, regardless of what club they support, knows that the current system is not advisable for the long-term health of Spanish football. And yet, there are short-sighted, egotistical chairmen and presidents who would rather take a bribe to fatten their own wallets by a little bit, than support a plan that would keep the league competitive for years to come... which in the end, probably makes everyone more money.”
Nevertheless, we want a stronger league. We all hear that La Liga is a two team league, but quite frankly so have most leagues in Europe over the years. The TV revenue sharing is an issue that needs to be addressed and I am sure that with the next TV deal, the amount will be more for everybody and perhaps enough for Barça to share more with the other clubs too. However, we also have to look at the long term fitness concerns of our players and thus a reduction in the number of teams in the league is a good step. It seems that players today who do well for their clubs end up representing their country and pay the price for it with wear and tear which ultimately leads to injuries or burning out.
Now I don’t agree about Rosell voicing his concerns about foreign owners, especially when the club got a huge windfall of cash from a foreign investor. In the end, we need solutions for the welfare of the league and if there are better options, then they should be reviewed for the sake of everybody. Until then, the idea of reducing teams to 16 is a step in the right direction.
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