Spain's La Liga has too many clubs and should shed four of them, Barcelona soccer president Sandro Rosell said Monday. “My opinion is that our league has too many clubs,” Rosell said during a debate at the International Football Arena conference. “We have 20 and we should go down to 18, then to 16. This will mean that all the clubs will be more competitive and we can reduce players' salaries.” Describing Spanish football as facing huge financial problems, Rosell added that he was opposed to foreign ownership of the country's clubs and warned that some clubs could disappear. Rosell said Spain would have to change the system of distributing television money under which the lion's share goes to Barcelona and Real Madrid, putting them at an advantage over their rivals. “It is the only league where TV rights are negotiated individually and some time in the next three or four or five years we have to put it all in one pot and make the distribution the way it is in Serie A and the Premier League,” he said. “This is something Barcelona and Real Madrid are talking to the other clubs about; we have to listen to the demands of the other 18 clubs.” He added: “The Spanish league is the second most popular (in Europe), but we are facing huge problems financially speaking. “None of the clubs in Spain are in a good position; we owe a lot of money to the banks. “(At) Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna, the situation is not good but it is under control. “As for the other 16 teams, some are in a very bad position and I don't think they will come back; maybe next year they will go to the second or third division or disappear.”
