Bradley Associates Duke
In response to a question asked in the Spanish parliament, last month, the Government was obliged to disclose the amount of unpaid tax owed by professional football clubs in the country's top two divisions. The sum was a staggering €663,876,441 (about £575m). This in a country that benefits from a European Union bailout potentially worth as much as €100bn.
What was no less shocking, but not that surprising, was the caveat that accompanied the unpaid tax figure. The total did not include the tax debts of four clubs that are exempt because, under legislation passed by the Spanish Government in 1990, they were not obliged to reconstitute themselves as public limited companies and could continue to be owned by their members, or "socios".
Those four are Real Madrid and Barcelona, who also take around 50 per cent of La Liga's total television revenue for themselves, as well as Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna. They have been permitted to retain their status as sports clubs, owned by their members, and to add insult to injury for the rest, the Government refused to disclose how much debt the four owed to the Spanish purse.
The reason given was that because there are only four clubs that fall into the non-public limited company category, it might be possible to divine individual debts from the total sum. It was yet another advantage afforded to the four exempted clubs whose status is, as The Independent reports today, under threat from a European Commission investigation.
As well as being treated as not-for-profit organisations, the four exempted clubs benefit under corporation and property tax laws. They are also permitted to have affiliate professional basketball clubs which operate out of the same structure, an important factor in a country where basketball is the second sport.
This season, Real Madrid Baloncesto finished runners-up in the final of the Euroleague, basketball's Champions League equivalent. Barcelona Basquet were placed fourth overall. In the last 21 years the Spanish basketball title has been won by clubs outside Madrid and Barcelona on only five occasions. Investment in both clubs' squads has been significant, with Barcelona Basquet, for instance, operati