Barca chief calls for La Liga squeeze

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has called for a reduction to the number of teams in La Liga from 20 to 16.

Rosell said he believed Spain’s top flight was going through a difficult period and an initial reduction to 18 teams followed by a move to 16 teams was necessary for the competition to survive.

Rosell stressed that, of the 20 teams currently competing in La Liga, only Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna were in a stable financial situation.

“Some of the remaining 16 teams are in a bad situation and I do not believe they will recover,” he said at the International Football Arena conference in Zurich.

“Perhaps next year they will be in the second or third divisions, or will disappear altogether.”

The Barcelona president then expressed doubts about foreign ownership of Spanish clubs, like in the case of Malaga and Racing Santander.

“My question is about where we are going and what will happen when these clubs can have access to limitless resources,” he said.

“They are coming to Spain and I do not like it, but it is happening.”

The 47-year-old also called for changes to the way TV revenues are distributed amongst Spanish clubs, giving the example of other leagues in Europe.

“The Spanish league is the only one in which TV rights are negotiated individually and, at some point in the next four or five years, we will have to be on the same page and make a similar distribution to Serie A or the Premier League,” Rosell said.