LaLiga respond to Barça, Madrid and Athletic challenging the CVC agreement

LaLiga have not taken long to respond to the statement released by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club on Friday in which they said they would challenge the league's deal with CVC.

LaLiga agreed to sell 10% of its business to the investment firm, with 39 of the 42 teams that make up Spain's top two divisions voting it through.

The league say they are surprised by Barca, Madrid and Athletic's decision to fight the agreement.

"It is surprising they are challenging something that does not actually affect them," the league said. "They would only benefit from the growth of LaLiga in the coming years.

"LaLiga now has the support for the agreement from 39 of the 42 clubs that make up the league. We will continue working with CVC on this project, which we are confident is good for LaLiga and the clubs.

"The challenge demonstrates that these three clubs are attempting to prevent growth for the other clubs in the league."

Barça, Madrid and Athletic had earlier said: "We announce that we have challenged the agreement adopted by the LaLiga Assembly on Aug. 12, relating to the operation between La Liga and CVC, as it is an agreement that infringes the applicable rules set out (and in particular, amongst others, the Royal Decree Law 5/2015), and it was adopted as part of a highly irregular and disrespectful process toward with the minimum guarantees required to those purposes, especially faced with an operation of such importance and longevity."