Real Madrid Backs UEFA: Football's Value Must Not Be Eroded by Commercialization
In Madrid, Real Madrid publicly voiced support for UEFA, believing that UEFA has played a key role in defending the purity of football. Earlier, FIFA attempted to sell equity in its World Cup subsidiary to private capital, but the aggressive plan was ultimately withdrawn amid strong opposition from multiple parties. A joint boycott by three continental confederations forced FIFA to give up the plan and inflicted a serious setback on its president. UEFA not only threatened to withdraw from related competitions, but also bluntly stated that the president had lost the trust of European football's governing bodies, steadily escalating the pressure. Furthermore, UEFA is still contemplating further action, including a no-confidence vote, which would require the affirmative votes of 43 member associations to be triggered.
As a top-tier powerhouse with 15 Champions League titles, Real Madrid conveyed its stance through an official statement: "We highly appreciate FIFA's decision to withdraw the plan to sell commercial rights of certain competitions." The club believes this is a tremendous benefit for the sport of football itself, for the governing bodies, and for hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. Real Madrid also expressed gratitude to UEFA, the continental confederations, national associations, and all organizations that resolutely and rationally opposed the project, saying that these forces, through unity and responsibility at a critical moment, safeguarded the very essence of football.
In addition to UEFA, the confederation governing football in North, Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation, also publicly condemned the plan. Earlier, the FIFA president had attempted to persuade national associations to approve the establishment of a new company that would fully operate the commercial development and organizational matters of the men's and women's World Cups and related events. The most controversial part of the plan was the proposed sale of a 20% equity stake to private capital. A senior adviser to the president resigned over the matter, bluntly calling the deal "extremely unfair to football" and saying it would "mortgage football's future." The organization's chief operating officer, meanwhile, claimed that management had been "hoodwinked" in the running of the project.
Real Madrid further stressed that clubs are the very foundation on which national team football and the World Cup depend. It is clubs that discover, cultivate, and refine players before sending them to national teams, making these top competitions a reality. National team football and the World Cup are, in essence, part of the public interest, a cultural heritage owned by nations, fans, and society as a whole. Real Madrid firmly stated that such competitions must never be reduced to mere commercial bargaining chips, nor should they be packaged and run as profit-making tools for a small group of capital interests.