Javier Tebas

Javier Tebas
Javier Tebas
President of Liga de Fútbol Profesional
Assumed office
26 April 2013
Preceded by José Luis Astiazarán
Personal details
Born Javier Tebas Medrano
(1962-07-31) 31 July 1962
San José, Costa Rica

Javier Tebas Medrano (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ ˈteβas]; born 31 July 1962) is a Spanish-Costa Rican born football president, who is the current president of Liga de Fútbol Profesional.[lower-alpha 1]

Biography

Tebas has worked for eleven different La Liga clubs, with his first one being appointed president of SD Huesca in 1993.[1][2] He served three terms as the Vice-President of Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP),[1] being elected for the first time in 2001, and also worked for the G30 group of clubs, where he helped the clubs negotiate their television deals.[1][2][3]

In 2013, Tebas was appointed the president of LFP after an uncontested election in which he was supported by 32 of the 42 La Liga and Segunda División clubs.[2] Prior to the election, Tebas had promised to clean up the Spanish game after match-fixing allegations, and also to make match tickets affordable.[1][2][4][5]

Tebas studied law at the University of Zaragoza.[2] Tebas is a Real Madrid fan, although he has said that this does not affect his neutrality as president.[6][7]

Controversies

Shortly after Tebas' appointment as La Liga president, former Spanish coach Javier Clemente compared Tebas to a Nazi concentration camp boss, due to his affiliation with the right-wing Youth New Force in the 1980s.[8][9] During his tenure, Tebas has said that Spanish league matches could be held outside of Spain, although he has said that El Clásico will only be held in Spain,[6][10] and has also said that if the Catalonia region became independent from Spain, then its football teams, including FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol, would not be allowed to compete in the Spanish football leagues.[7]

Tebas is a critic of former UEFA acting president Ángel María Villar, and is quoted as saying that he hoped Villar became permanent President, so that he would leave his job at the Royal Spanish Football Federation.[11] Tebas has also been critical of FIFA, saying that they need an overhaul of personnel in order to regain the trust of the footballing community.[12] Tebas blamed FIFA for contract information leaks by the Football Leaks website about contract details of La Liga players.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Some sources refer to him as the president of La Liga.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Javier Tebas". Leaders in Sport. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Nunn, Garreth (16 January 2015). "Javier Tebas: The man with a plan?". Football Espana. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Sanz, Óscar (22 August 2003). "El G-30 insiste en su plante". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Javier Tebas se presentará a la presidencia de la Liga de Fútbol Profesional". Sport (in Spanish). 15 February 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Javier Tebas, proclamado definitivamente como nuevo presidente de la Liga". Libertad Digital. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Bull, JJ (17 November 2015). "La Liga president Javier Tebas supports Real Madrid". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 Mazariegos, Luiz (1 March 2016). "La Liga President Javier Tebas: "Clubs of independent Catalonia cannot play in the league"". SB Nation. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Presentación de candidatos y programa electoral de Fuerza Nueva". La Marea (png) (in Spanish). 10 October 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Javier Tebas compared to a Nazi boss by former Spain coach Javier Clemente". Sport. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Malyon, Ed (18 November 2015). "La Liga president Javier Tebas admits Spanish league games could be played abroad". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  11. ↑ "La Liga chief Javier Tebas renews feud with acting UEFA boss Angel Maria Villar". Reuters. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016 – via Eurosport.
  12. ↑ "FIFA incapable of change from within: Spanish league chief". Agence France-Presse. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2016 – via The Daily Star.
  13. ↑ "Tebas: FIFA at fault for contract leaks". Football Espana. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.