Malaga Owner Takes To Twitter To Express His Displeasure With TV Rights Deal

Malaga FC Owner Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani "expressed his frustration" over Real Madrid and FC Barcelona's dominance of La Liga's TV rights fee distribution, according to ESPNSTAR.com. The Qatari businessman made his feelings known "through a series of tweets" on his personal account. Most of his frustration appears to be focused on Real and Barca, which possess exclusive TV rights, "enabling the two to earn disproportionately higher revenue" from broadcasting than the other La Liga clubs. He stated that both clubs receive €135M ($165.7M) from broadcasting fees while third-place Valencia took in €65M ($79.8M). His Malaga team who finished fourth in last season's campaign, "stand to earn only €13M ($16M)." Al-Thani also criticized "the apparent prevalence of bribing" in the league, the need for an unbiased press, and the "alleged presence of rampant tax evasion" as factors that could "contribute to La Liga's demise" in the future (ESPNSTAR.com, 7/9). In Madrid, Adriano Espinal reported that Al-Thani questioned the "current distribution of money." He tweeted, "How is it possible that a team in the Segunda (Spain's second division) collects 29 million euros for TV and we only get 13 million? Where is the Justice?" (EL MUNDO, 7/9).