Nelio Lucas: "TPO is what players, fans and clubs want"

The opening speaker at the event 'TPO Forum: clubs and legal experts discuss investment funds in football' was Nelio Lucas, CEO of Doyen Sports, who presented the concept of third-party ownership (TPO).

"The reason that we’re here is because the small teams need other alternatives for financing," said Lucas. He outlined that "the major difference between the teams in the different European leagues resides in television rights," and he offered an illustration of this: "The smallest team in the Premier League receives nearly 137 million euros through television, almost the same as Real Madrid. The clubs are richer and richer, and that can be seen in the dominance of the English league. That unbalances competitions. There is no justice."

Lucas also explained that "regulation should consist of the creation of resources to fight against the lack of equality" and finished by declaring: "TPO is what players, fans and clubs want; without it, it’s always the same winners."