La Liga President Javier Tebas – “I can’t force Peter Lim to sell Valencia”

La Liga President Javier Tebas has told the media that he has no power to enforce anything on Valencia owner Peter Lim, who continues to spark ire amongst the fanbase at Mestalla.

The Singapore-based business magnate’s frugal spending and refusal to fund the construction of Nou Mestalla has brought about a lengthy protest campaign against Lim and Meriton Holdings, the ownership group, but Tebas noted that their current state of affairs was a function of reality. Tebas remarked that ‘just like Deportivo La Coruna’, Valencia had been through an era of glory, and now were living with a much less glamorous period.

During La Liga’s presentation of the La Liga salary limits for September 2024, Tebas was asked on a number of occasions about Los Che, and their apparent fall from grace, and the stasis Valencia find themselves in. However Tebas explained that ultimately, he had no power to force Lim to sell, nor the power to attract an investor with a sufficient offer. He did however say that he still believed in Lim’s project, with slightly trite ‘yes’, while refusing to opine on his personal dealings with Lim, nor be dragged into opining on his work, as he done with other clubs on occasion.

Valencia have been without European football since Marcelino Garcia Toral left the club in 2019, the year they won the Copa del Rey last. Various managers have come and gone in that period, many like Marcelino falling out with the club’s hierarchy. The fanbase at Mestalla continue to protest Lim’s management of the club on a regular basis, but beyond that, the club remains in a period of limbo to an extent.