Soccer-Mediapro founder Roures calls for public Perez apology

Founder of Spanish television company Mediapro Jaume Roures has called on Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to publicly acknowledge he made a mistake with the Super League. Perez was named chairman of the project when it was announced on Sunday, however by Wednesday it was left in tatters as nine of the 12 founding clubs withdrew their support for the breakaway.

Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli conceded that the project could no longer proceed, leaving Real and Barcelona as the only clubs initially involved to speak out following the collapse of the idea. "I don't think that football people could be any happier after the last 48 hours," Roures told Radio Marca on Wednesday.

"Florentino (Perez) comes out of this really damaged. He needs to come out and admit he was wrong as a minimum. I guess he'll be reflecting on it deeply because he's the brainchild and face of the shambles. Barca should come out and declare their position, too. "They didn't have anything arranged with TV companies or sponsors. That's why he did that ridiculous presentation on El Chiringuito (television show). If not, you'd hold a press conference, as opposed to going to some second rate television channel.

"Florentino has confused the Bernabeu Director's Box with football, but real life is more complex." Roures, whose company owns the television rights in Spain to La Liga, the Champions League and the Europa League, was also critical of the decision making as to which teams were invited in as founders.

"When I've told different clubs that this (extra) money doesn't exist, they don't believe me. There's some people who think they're demigods and that they can do what they like," he said. "Exactly how have Arsenal managed to get in there and throw Sevilla out of Europe's top competition?"

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