Florentino Perez is reopening his interest in creating a European Super League.
\"To fix a problem, you have to first recognize that you have a problem,\" Perez said. \"Our sport is sick. It\'s losing its leadership as a global sport ... We mustn\'t be confused by the impact of Real Madrid\'s European Cup run [in the Champions League last season] when we were involved in seven games of the highest intensity and interest.
\"That was the result of the draw, and of the quality and greatness of our team. It was a spectacle that helped bring excitement back to the viewers. That\'s why we believe European competitions must change, to offer fans top-level games year-round between the strongest teams, with the best players competing.\"
Perez compared the number of times that major European clubs face each other to the number of top-level meetings in other sports.
\"In tennis, [Rafa] Nadal and [Roger] Federer have played 40 times in 15 years. Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic have played 59 matches in 16 years,\" he said. \"In football we\'ve only played Liverpool nine times in 67 years. We\'ve played Chelsea four times in the history of the European Cup. What sense does it make to deprive fans of all these games?\"
Perez highlighted a recent Forbes ranking that suggested football clubs are falling behind United States teams.
\"We were top in all sports, and now we\'ve fallen to 13th,\" he said. \"We\'ve been overtaken by 12 clubs from American sports. They must be doing something very well in the United States and very badly in Europe ... Football is losing the global entertainment battle against other sports and other platforms.\"