MADRID (AP) – Long connected to the creation of a more lucrative competition, Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez needs football’s currency interruptions through the coronavirus pandemic to make deep adjustments to existing game formats.
“Nothing will ever be the way it was again,” Perez said Sunday at an online meeting of Real Madrid partners.
“The pandemic will have to make us more competitive,” he said. We have to innovate, notice formulas to maintain the appeal of football. Real Madrid were put at the start of FIFA and the European Cup. Our style now wants a new boost,” and the COVID-19 effect has proved it.
Elite clubs, joining Madrid, have pushed for Champions League matches and more guaranteed revenue from the 2024–25 season, but UEFA-led talks failed to reach an agreement last year amid opposition from less-rich leagues and clubs.
Pérez also shaped the World Association of Football Clubs in 2019, which has formulated plans for new competitions, proposals that did appear in the reports until Pérez met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“Everyone is pushing for a global review of football. There is saturation (of the parties) and our upsween, which is the most we have, is suffering,” Perez said. Football reform can’t wait. Europe’s largest clubs have millions of enthusiasts around the world. We have a duty to fight for this change. “
Perez did specify the precise adjustments he would support.
The pandemic has highlighted an economic truth for the league’s top clubs: millions of enthusiasts sitting on sofas and bars watching games on TELEVISION outperd the thousands of staunch enthusiasts who have not normally been able to attend matches.
The trend in world football has also been to increase the number of matches and competitions, both for clubs and national teams, such as the UEFA Nations League. It has been reported that more Champions League matches will be added for elite clubs in Europe.
Pérez said the effect of the pandemic, which has prevented stadium enthusiasts in Spain since March, has reduced the Spanish champion’s revenue from 822 million euros (billion dollars) to 715 million euros.
“The truth is that all the big football clubs are suffering this primary money hit and we’re not immune either,” he said.
Madrid are recently renovating its Santiago Bernabéu stadium and playing matches in a much smaller stadium on its campus.
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