Spanish football clubs ordered to repay state aid

[ian1964 10,720]

Fresh from the disappointment of being knocked out of the European championship, Spanish football fans are reeling from a financial setback for seven of the country's biggest clubs. The European Commission says they must pay back millions of dollars for breaching state aid laws. It has ruled that they had received unfair help through preferential loans and deals on tax and property. The world's richest club, Real Madrid, was ordered to repay $20m in one case concerning a property deal in the Spanish capital. European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager told Susannah Streeter why EU state aid rules had been breached.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040fb5g?ocid=socialflow_twitter

 

 

Somebody should look into the state aid that the grey & green have been given for years!

[calscot 0]

Problem is, we've just voted to leave the EU, so looks like they are safe.

[buster. 5,097]

Spain and corruption is like bacon and eggs.

 

It's embedded in the DNA of the country.

[Scott7 5,914]

I've heard some suggest that it's embedded in the DNA of southern Europe and leaking northwards. I don't have he experience to know if that is right or just xenophobic propaganda.

[buster. 5,097]

I've heard some suggest that it's embedded in the DNA of southern Europe and leaking northwards. I don't have he experience to know if that is right or just xenophobic propaganda.

 

It's certainly true of Spain.

It has improved over the last decade in that it isn't so much in your face or as easy to engage in.

 

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There is a book by Tobias Joes, 'The Dark Heart of Italy' which is an entertaining observation on Berlusscconi's time in Italy and how Italy functions.