The government should not be conducting talks at all, he said.
The talks are now being conducted in public, with the news media invited to watch.
Those initial talks were conducted without becoming known to the public.
"Only after they've been battered will we be able to conduct talks."
He asked them to let him know by Wednesday whether they planned to conduct such talks.
He also conducted talks on the subject with the Indian tourism minister.
The general manager said he has already conducted informal talks with clubs.
We are conducting talks with an increasing number of major groups.
The agreement was expected, coming two weeks after the companies said they were conducting talks to end the planned merger.
But I am cautiously optimistic about the atmosphere in which the talks were conducted.