Spanish football clubs trim debts to taxman

MADRID (AFP) –

Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (R) vies with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo clashes with Barcelona‘s Dani Alves in Madrid on March 2. Spanish football clubs cut their debt to the taxman by 8% last year to 690 mn euros, the Madrid treasury says.

Spanish football clubs cut their debt to the taxman by eight percent last year from 752.3 million euros (973.8 million dollars) to 690 million (893 million dollars), the Madrid treasury said Tuesday.

“The debts of Spanish clubs to the tax authorities … stood at 752.3 million euros at the start of 2012. They now stand at 690 million, which represents a drop of around eight percent,” a spokesman said.

Of the total, 535 million euros (692.7 million dollars) concern first division clubs.

The treasury also revealed that 400 million euros (518 million dollars) of the total comprises debts which 27 clubs across the country have simply stopped paying as they battle a crippling financial environment.

The Spanish government last April came up with a plan – to which la Liga has signed up – to reduce the debt pile, including the proposal to set aside from the 2014-15 season of a third of clubs’ television revenues to pay off more cash owed to the state.

The finance ministry says that the plan is now “bearing fruit” while adding that the state will do all it can using everything in its power to bring the debt pile under control.

“The overriding objective of the government is that this debt should not rise still further,” a statement said.