Javier Tebas has confirmed that he will run in the next elections to become President of the Spanish Football League (LFP).
The current Vice-President of the organisation was rumoured earlier in the week to be considering running against President Jose Luis Astiazaran.
Posting on his Twitter account, Tebas confirmed the news today: “I confirm that I will present myself this April for election as President of the LFP.”
Tebas’ decision is seen as a blow to a number of La Liga’s clubs who are pushing for fundamental changes in the way television broadcasting rights are distributed.
A breakaway group of ‘rebels’ fronted by Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, had reportedly intended on putting forward Manuel Llorente or Enrique Cerezo as a candidate to oppose Astiazaran and initiate change from within.
Tebas, though, is seen as holding enough support to win the elections and, as head of the G-30, has already more than once made clear his support of the current broadcasting set-up, which sees Real Madrid and Barcelona pull in a majority of the income from television deals.
The G-30 group are a collection of clubs, including now five La Liga teams – Levante, Rayo Vallecano, Granada, Malaga and Real Valladolid – and 16 from the lower Leagues, that in 2010 agreed to negotiate the sale of their broadcast rights to Mediapro as a collective.
