The LaLiga president used the development to revisit his long-running concerns about financial sustainability in European football, recalling comments he made about Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain at Soccerex in Manchester in September 2017.
“In September 2017, at Soccerex, in Manchester, I publicly denounced something that had been concerning me for some time: the so-called financial doping in European football,” Tebas wrote on social media.
“I spoke about Manchester City and PSG. About clubs whose economic capacity did not come solely from their ordinary activity, but also from the backing of enormous external resources.”
Tebas also recalled his concerns about sponsorship valuations and the wider impact he believed such financial models could have on European football.
“Sponsorships whose valuation we considered far removed from market reality,” he wrote. “And the consequences that this model could cause throughout the ecosystem: inflation in salaries, transfers and costs that would subsequently also be borne by other clubs.”
According to Tebas, his comments led to a public response from Manchester City.
“Manchester City publicly described my statements as ‘ill-informed’ and ‘pure fiction’ and announced that it was considering legal action against me,” he wrote.
Tebas then pointed to the UEFA proceedings that followed. In February 2020, UEFA imposed a two-season European competition ban and a €30 million fine on Manchester City after finding serious financial-control breaches, including issues concerning the presentation of certain sponsorship revenue.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport subsequently overturned the European exclusion in July 2020. Tebas remains critical of that decision.
“Part of the conduct was considered time-barred and other parts insufficiently proven under the required standard of proof,” he wrote. “It did maintain that Manchester City had breached its obligation to cooperate with UEFA's investigation and confirmed a financial penalty, reduced to €10m.”
Tebas said he had never agreed with the ruling and argued that it had damaged his confidence in the sporting arbitration system.
He also stressed that the current proceedings had not yet concluded.
“The procedure has not finished. The sanction remains to be known,” Tebas wrote.
For the LaLiga president, the wider issue goes beyond Manchester City and concerns the rules governing financial competition between clubs.
“Economic sustainability is not bureaucracy. Financial control is not a whim,” he wrote.
Tebas argued that clubs should primarily compete using resources they generate themselves and said he would continue defending financial control, transparency and common rules across European football.
“The success of sport should not depend on who has the most powerful financial backing behind them, but on who manages better, generates more resources, builds better teams and respects the same rules as everyone else,” he wrote.