THE BIG QUESTION BEHIND FC BARCELONA AND REAL MADRID’S DOMINANCE IN LIGA BBVA

Every true football fan will agree with me there is lack of competition in the Spanish League, the two Spanish giants as they are popularly called have so far enjoyed and taken so much from the league thereby overshadowing other teams.
To many, youth policy and tactical brilliance is the secret behind other team’s inability to catch up with Barca and Real Madrid but actually there is a lot more to it. Recently, we all witnessed the downfall of cash strapped MALAGA despite millions being pumped into the humble Andalusian side in an attempt to fast track them to compete for domestic and European glory, and despite the fact that teams with half of their resources were eventually bulldozed out of the way in Malaga’s quest for fourth place last season, they still went down the money line in the end, forcing them to sell key players like Santi Carzola, Salomon Rondon to survive. The fact is, short of a Qatar billionaire throwing his weight behind a smaller Spanish side, as appeared with the case of Malaga, no team had, or has a chance of toppling Barca or Real Madrid in the near future. The future of La Liga is under threat unless the wealthy and dominant duo agree a more equitable distribution of income from television rights.
Let me shed more light on this, unlike the English Premier League where TV rights are shared equally, Barca and Real Madrid own the major part of the income from TV rights. The Presidents of 12 Primera clubs met recently to discuss what action they should take to alter the distribution of money for television rights for Spanish football. The ‘BIG TWO’ have finished 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals in the past two seasons and that is not good for the future of the game. However, the sad thing is, Barca and Real Madrid can put an end to this problem whenever they like, should the two renegotiate their TV deal for a more balanced distribution of wealth, not only would they be giving something back to a league they’ve taken so much from, but they would also benefit from the new found level of competition that would follow. If money is all that matters, La Liga as a product would likely grow too, and in an environment where money is spread fairly to all teams involved, that’s good for everyone.

Note: This is just my opinion.

Niyi Ayokanmbi