La Liga president eyes closer ties with CSL

Javier Tebas, chief of Spain’s football league first division La Liga backed the ongoing soccer reforms in China, saying it was a step in the right direction although he also urged both fans and officials to be patient as the reforms do not deliver results overnight.

Tebas also welcomed the transfers of big-name players to the Chinese Super League clubs as a healthy development. Tebas said LFP’s major duties include distributing La Liga TV broadcasting incomes, as well as to supervise the financial situation of the clubs.

Dalian-based Wanda Group became a shareholder of La Liga side Atletico Madrid after purchasing a 20 percent stake in the 2014 La Liga champion earlier this year. Under Wanda’s operation, Liaoning-based midfielder Xu Xin joined Atletico and made his debut in Atletico’s friendly against Shanghai SIPG at Shanghai Stadium on August 4.

Tebas welcomes more Chinese involvement in La Liga, while promising more soccer related exchanges between the two countries. Tebas said LFP has reached an agreement with China’s sports authority to send some 40 football coaches to Chinese schools and open courses for local coaches and students. A Spanish second-tier league team will be sent to China for friendlies against Chinese second-tier teams in October. La Liga also plans to open a training school in China to help develop young talent.

The president also promised to bring more teams to China in the off-season as China is an important market. According to Tebas, La Liga will arrange some matches to kick off early at 4pm in Spain this coming season, which means games will start at 10pm or 11pm for Chinese TV viewers.

Earlier this month, La Liga signed a five-year TV broadcasting rights deal in China with PPTV.com, a video and live program provider backed by Suning. The deal was reported to be worth around 250 million euros (US$278 million).

Taken from Shanghai Daily