By Gareth Messenger
April 23 – The on-going Spanish debate over the collective sale of club TV rights could be ended by the government if a new law is passed to force the teams into group sales.
The president of Spain’s Sports Council, Miguel Cardenal (pictured), a member of the Spanish government, has blamed the vast difference between club earnings on the current system which allows clubs to individually negotiate deals with official broadcast partners. The result is a financial imbalance with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid earning €128 million more than clubs like Granada and Rayo Vallecano.
It is believed a more even distribution of the TV money will help clubs cut their debt mountains and particularly cut the taxes they owe. Some progression has been made with Spanish clubs reducing debt to the taxman from €750m to €670m last year, but he stands firm on his desire to see more of an improvement.
“Last year it was €750 million, so the progress made over this year seems like positive news to me,” he said.
“That is an important issue because it (TV rights revenue) is the principal source of financing. The idea is that the new law gathers the rights together collectively, and that just one packet is sold which includes all the teams. The natural thing to do is think that the difference between those who receive the most and the least narrows.”
The Spanish government as well as the European Union have emphasised more focus on finances in football during the economic crisis across Europe, and conservative politician Cardenal suggested foreign investors could prove to be a relief for some of Spain’s troubled clubs, who owe a combined figure of around €3bn.
“Foreign investment comes as a creation of wealth,” he said. “With that, you can do many things and create jobs.”
However, one club who may oppose to that claim is Malaga. The Andalusian outfit is owned by Qatari billionaire Sheikh Abdullah Al -Thani but a string of financial irregularities and problems have seen them expelled from European competition.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734840008labto1734840008ofdlr1734840008owedi1734840008sni@r1734840008egnes1734840008sem.h1734840008terag1734840008. Gareth Messenger is Editor-in-Chief, www.laliganews.tv @G_Messenger