The European Football Association (UEFA) tightened the screws on the Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona, and gave them new instructions regarding their compliance with the rules of fair financial play.
And the British newspaper “Telegraph” stated that the European Union informed the two major clubs that the cash they obtained in exchange for mortgaging some of their property and rights would not be considered “legitimate profits” in the rules of fair financial play.
The newspaper stated that the money that revived the treasuries of Real Madrid and Barcelona through broadcast deals and the sale of some assets for a specific period will be considered debts, not profits.
And “UEFA” considered that Barcelona’s sale of a group of future income sources of about 700 million euros last summer (economic levers) is debt, not profit.
President Laporta and members of the club’s board of directors on an inspection visit to the Spotify Camp Nou stadium, which is undergoing comprehensive maintenance. pic.twitter.com/KzQ8im8yGA
– FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona_ara) June 28, 2023
The same applies to Real Madrid, which announced on May 19, 2022 the signing of an agreement with the “Sixth Street” investment fund for the development of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and in exchange for it, the Royal Club received 360 million euros, which is what UEFA is also looking at. It is debt, not profit.
However, the two clubs presented these numbers to their members in the annual financial report as profits.
These developments would put great pressure on Barcelona more than its rival, Real Madrid, when the financial budget for the next session is announced, which also explains the limited spending of the “Meringue” during the current summer transfer market, regardless of the Judy Bellingham deal, according to Telegraph.
And UEFA had fined Barcelona last Friday an amount of 500 thousand euros, due to what it considered “the club’s mistaken announcement of profits from the sale of intangible assets (other than player transfers) in the fiscal year 2022, which is not relevant income according to the regulations.”
What is remarkable about the matter is that the Spanish League dealt with the aforementioned financial report with flexibility, and it was approved by officials.
Florentino Pérez: “Being the best in Europe and then in the world is beautiful.”#W8RLDCHAMPIONS pic.twitter.com/GhLmje3nvv
– Real Madrid (@realmadridarab) February 12, 2023
As for Real Madrid, the Telegraph revealed in a previous report that the royal club faces the possibility of violating the rules of fair financial play.
The newspaper confirmed at the time that the Real Madrid administration refused to disclose the destination of 20% of its expenses during the fiscal year 2021-2022, as an amount of 122 million euros was included in its budget under the item “other operating expenses”, without disclosing or clarifying the source of these funds or how they were spent.
The report of the British newspaper indicated that Real Madrid put 135 million euros in the category of “other operating expenses”, of which 122 million without any explanation, according to the budget that was announced by the club in October 2022.
