Real Madrid issue official statement after FIFA abandons commercial rights proposal | OneFootball

Real Madrid have welcomed FIFA’s decision to abandon its proposed partial sale of the commercial rights to its competitions.

Los Blancos have described the outcome as an important victory for football clubs and the long-term sustainability of the sport.

In an official statement published, the Spanish giants thanked the organisations that opposed the project while reaffirming their long-standing position against selling future football revenues.

Real Madrid welcome FIFA decision

Infantino under fire. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

The club praised FIFA’s decision to drop the proposal and expressed gratitude to the institutions that stood against it.

“Real Madrid CF welcomes FIFA’s decision to abandon its proposal for the partial sale of the commercial rights to its competitions. Our club believes this is good news for football, its institutions, and above all, for the millions of fans of our beloved sport.

Real Madrid wishes to express its gratitude to UEFA, the confederations and federations, and all the institutions that firmly and responsibly opposed this project. Their unity and sense of duty protected football at a crucial moment,” the statement said.

“Clubs are the foundation upon which international football and the World Cup are built. They are the ones who discover, train, develop, and provide the national teams with the players who make these major competitions possible.

International football and the World Cup are, above all, events of public interest, and they constitute a heritage that belongs to nations, fans, and society as a whole.

Therefore, we believe they should never be treated as mere financial assets to be traded for the benefit of a select few,” it added.

Real Madrid went on to speak vehemently against the attempt to gain commercial revenue from footballing competitions.

“Real Madrid firmly opposes any attempt to sell future commercial revenue from competitions without assuming any of the associated costs or risks.

It is the clubs that bear these costs and risks, and any initiative that seeks to appropriate future football revenue without assuming the responsibilities that generate it is unacceptable and should never be considered again,” the statement read.

Real Madrid have come out strongly against FIFA. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The club also thanked UEFA, the continental confederations, national federations and other football institutions that opposed the project.

Widespread backlash forces FIFA to backtrack

Infantino’s proposal triggered an unusually broad revolt across the football world.

UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation all criticised the plan, with opponents objecting to both the possible sale of a stake in FIFA’s commercial operations and the lack of consultation before the project emerged.

UEFA went as far as declaring that football’s soul and governance were not assets to be traded, while European associations reportedly discussed the possibility of boycotting FIFA competitions if the proposal advanced.

This public backlash eventually forced FIFA to backtrack on their own proposal and not move ahead with their proposed deal.

Position on CVC remains unchanged

Meanwhile, the statement also reaffirmed Real Madrid’s opposition to La Liga’s agreement with CVC, maintaining a position the club have defended consistently in recent years.

“This is also the same principle that Real Madrid has consistently upheld at the national level.

“Our club opposed and did not participate in the operation whereby LaLiga committed a percentage of the clubs’ future audiovisual revenues for fifty years in exchange for the entry of a private fund like CVC.

“Mortgaging for half a century revenues that belong to the clubs, who are the ones who bear all the costs and risks, sets a precedent that football must not repeat, whether in our country or internationally,” they concluded.

Madrid argued that clubs should never mortgage future broadcasting income for decades in exchange for short-term financial gains, insisting that protecting long-term revenues is essential for the future of the game.

This is the stance the club have maintained for a long time now, ever since La Liga tried to introduce the deal in 2021.

The latest statement therefore extends beyond FIFA’s decision alone. It reinforces Real Madrid’s broader philosophy on football governance.