MADRID

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao have presented an alternative plan to the Spanish league’s future investment plan, the three clubs announced on Friday.

The clubs refused in August to participate in the league’s proposed investment program with private equity firm CVC, which the league said would inject € 2.7 billion ($ 3.2 billion) into the Spanish football.

Critics reiterated their position in a letter sent to other members of the league, calling it “ruinous for Spanish football and, moreover, serious irregularities”.

Instead, the three clubs said they had put in place an alternative investment plan to acquire “the same capital offered by CVC at infinitely better costs”. They say their plan would save clubs more than 12 billion euros ($ 13.5 billion).

The letter, made public by the three clubs, did not specify the source of the proposed investment, but the Spanish league confirmed media reports that the alternative program offered a plan funded by banks JP Morgan, Bank of America and HSBC.

The league, however, questioned both the involvement of the banks and the numbers offered by Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, saying “we don’t know how (the three clubs) can present such a botched initiative”.

Thirty-eight of the 42 clubs in Spain’s first and second divisions voted in favor of the CVC deal.

Madrid and Barcelona also support the Super League, an alternative to the Champions League that the Spanish League and other domestic competitions have criticized.