European Parliament's Sport Intergroup meets for discussion session at LaLiga headquarters

24 November 2017.- The LaLiga headquarters in Madrid today played host to a working session of the members of the European Parliament's Sport Intergroup. This group, which was created in 2015 to tackle prominent issues in sport, draws together members of different political stripes and from various parliamentary committees. Its main focuses include subjects such as player transfers, dual careers for athletes and the battle against the manipulation of sports competitions.

The Sport Intergroup members were joined at the session by LaLiga directors, who outlined some of the key matters on the Spanish institution's agenda. For instance, Melcior Soler, the director of LaLiga's audiovisual department, discussed the marketing of broadcasting rights and LaLiga's fight against piracy, while Luis Gil, the organisation's competition director, gave an overview of LaLiga's relationship with FIFPro.

Another major topic explored during the session was LaLiga's stance with regard to the transfer system and third-party investment (TPI) funds, which was described by Javier Gomez, LaLiga's corporate managing director. Likewise, Alfredo Lorenzo, the institution's security and integrity director, spoke about the measures LaLiga has adopted with respect to stadium security, the integrity of sports competitions and stamping out match-fixing. The projects run by the LaLiga Foundation, the transparency initiatives put in place by LaLiga and the financial controls applied to the organisation's member clubs were also discussed.

Javier Tebas rounded off the session with a talk centred on Financial Fair Play and the transfer system. The LaLiga president thanked the MEPs in attendance for their involvement and their "engagement with the full gamut of issues relating to sport, and specifically to football," before highlighting their "proactiveness vis-à-vis the requests of LaLiga and its clubs." He also stressed "LaLiga's commitment to Financial Fair Play and to guaranteeing the sustainability of competitions."

For his part, Santiago Fisas MEP underlined the hard work performed by the Sport Intergroup: "We're one of the [European] Parliament's most active intergroups." Furthermore, he pointed to the burgeoning ties between the two institutions: "LaLiga has appeared in the Parliament under the aegis of our intergroup; its president walked MEPs through the blueprint that LaLiga is implementing."

Today's meeting was held with a view to establishing a dialogue with MEPs about the wide-ranging projects and initiatives undertaken by LaLiga. This endeavour is part of LaLiga's ongoing efforts to strengthen its collaboration with European institutions.