Spanish La Liga looks to expand in Asia

By Les Tan/Red Sports

Raffles City Convention Centre, Thursday, July 29, 2010 — The Spanish armada is coming.

At least, that’s the hope of Francisco Roca Perez, the chief executive officer of La Liga, Spain’s premier football league. Perez was in town at the Soccerex Asian Forum to announce a new pre-season tournament in Asia next year that will feature three La Liga clubs.

The event, to be known as the International LFP Cup, is not likely to feature Barcelona and Real Madrid for now, according to Perez. The host country will make up the four-team tournament scheduled for July or August 2011.

The success of the recent Spanish World Cup win also means that there is no better time to promote La Liga.

“After giants FC Barcelona’s fantastic 2009/10 domestic season and with Spain recently emerging as champions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we felt that this is the best time to introduce the International LFP Cup and share the beauty of Spanish football with the Asian market,” said Sergi Vieta of Mediapro, the organisers of the LFP Cup.

Like the Spanish armada of ancient history, they will find English resistance in the form of the Premier League, a favourite of many in Asia.

Perez though, doesn’t think the EPL is untouchable.

“The difference between La Liga and EPL in China, Korea and Japan is small even though the perception is that EPL is the runaway favourite,” said Perez.

To match the financial firepower of the EPL, La Liga will first have to change how they sell their international television broadcast rights, admitted Perez. Noting that Spanish clubs are fiercely individualistic, he says that the Spanish clubs have come to realise that they need to come under a collective broadcast agreement for the benefit of the league. Currently, Spanish clubs sell their television rights individually.

Another change the Spanish will have to endure if they want to attract Asian fans is to the timing of their kick offs. Currently, La Liga matches kick off at 10pm, resulting in 5am broadcast times in Asia. The aim is to get half of La Liga games to start at 4pm, Spanish time, in the upcoming season, said Perez.

“The objective is to change the gears as to how the league, the players are promoted. So far the promotion has only been driven by individual effort by the clubs e.g. Real Madrid and Barcelona, pre-season tours etc. Of course its hard for clubs like Sevilla, Deportivo and Aletico Madrid to attract fans, but we have to recognize that to promote the league, we cannot be prone to using Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is also essential to promote other clubs that also bring up new football talent.

“It will also be about working with local federations, contributing to grassroots areas and discovering new football talent. If football does not take off in Asia, how can we say football is a global game?” said Perez.

On the league’s plans to visit Singapore, Perez said: “We’ll be looking forward to becoming more prominent in Singapore, we know you all are rebuilding the stadium. We’ve been in touch with the local federation and there are some ideas on paper. Singapore is a unique country with a lot of opportunities, we see Singapore as business hub. We’ll be looking to visit Singapore.”

Said Eric Ong, FAS spokesman, at the Soccerex Asian Forum: “It’s good that these clubs are coming to this part of the world. It’s important that they come here and leave a legacy, not just to play a game here. Ultimately it boils down to the locals to come down and support the local teams. Singapore football fans can do their part just by going down to support. There are knock-on effects with TV companies and sponsors impressed. Then money can come in to grow the league.”

Participants at the Soccerex Asian Forum were also given an insight into how FC Barcelona are such a successful club team. Albert Capellas, the Senior Youth Coordinator for the Barcelona first team was on hand to share some of their “secrets”.

“Barcelona look for technical ability first before physical size. Barcelona youth teams under the ages of 12 lose a lot of games but by the time they hit their teenage years, they win everything,” said Capellas.

“Barcelona have a pipeline of talent. Guardiola’s aim is to have youth academy players make up 70% of their first team in the next two or three years,” added Capellas.

On the question of losing talent like Fabregas, the strong Barcelona youth pipeline ensures continuity of talent. Even if they were to lose someone like Xavi Hernandes, said Capellas, Barcelona can replace him because they have players who have the potential to take over.

However, it’s not just Barcelona that has talent in the pipelines. Real Madrid, Osasuna and Valencia also have youth talent. Spain will remain at the top of world football for a long time to come because of this, according to Capellas.

Information about LFP Cup
– Yearly exhibition tournament organized by LFP and Mediapro during pre-season
– 2011 inaugural edition. At least 3 times in this region in the next 5 years
– 3 La Liga teams and 1 local club team