La Liga president Javier Tebas is locked in a feud with PSG president and beIN chairman Spain's top football division, La Liga, has taken out a court injunction against the beIN Media Group to freeze 50 million euros ($48.5 million) of their assets after non-payment for television rights.
The dispute is widely seen as the latest salvo in a feud
between La Liga's outspoken president Javier Tebas and beIN Group Chairman
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of Qatari-owned Paris
Saint-Germain.
The two men have been at loggerheads on a range of issues
over the past few years.
A Spanish court placed a temporary hold on the 50 million
euros pending a full hearing on the case, according to court documents issued
on Monday that AFP has seen.
A La Liga spokesperson confirmed the Spanish league had
sought legal remedies "to guarantee the payment of the amounts owed from
the contracts for international TV rights following non-payment by beIN."
The media group broadcasts La Liga football across three
continents and in 35 countries, including France, Hong Kong and New Zealand,
paying La Liga an estimated 1.5 billion euros over the past five years.
"BeIN is one of the leading media groups in world sport
and entertainment. Our reputation is founded on decades of significant investment,
best-in-class broadcasting, long-term and trusted relationships with
rights-holders, and a track record of payment," a beIN Media Group
spokesperson told AFP.
"We will not discuss publicly the private discussions
we’ve been having with La Liga, or any rights-holder for that matter, regarding
specific contracts. That is not how business should be conducted, certainly not
by professional and dignified institutions.
"If we ran our operations reacting to certain
executives' comments on others within the sports industry, we wouldn't be in
business."
Al-Khelaifi has become an increasingly powerful presence in
the world of football as president of the European Club Association (ECA). Both
he and Tebas are on UEFA's Executive Committee.
Tebas condemned PSG and Premier League side Manchester City
in June this year for violating Financial Fair Play rules, and has often railed
against "state-owned" clubs for "financial doping". PSG are
owned by a Qatari investment fund.
La Liga protested against PSG signing Kylian Mbappe to a new
contract in the summer, with the player turning down Real Madrid, by filing a
complaint against them in a French court.
At the time, Tebas described the new Mbappe deal as "an
insult to football".
At a La Liga event in May, Tebas attacked Al-Khelaifi for
having too many conflicts of interest given his multiple positions in football.
"He wears a lot of hats, there's too many conflicts of
interest and this cannot be," said Tebas.
"It can't happen in football in 2022. A leading actor
like him cannot be in these organisations and preside over a TV channel that
buys (the rights to) La Liga, the Champions League, (and) internationals."