 Several people have shown an interest in buying
up Atlético Madrid now that Jesús Gil is being forced by the
courts to give up his participation. Potential buyers include Mexican
businessman Jorge Vergara, who already owns Chivas in his own country.
(30.06.03) |
| Deportivo have now paid Espanyol the outstanding
amounts for Sergio and the clubs are up to date. (30.06.03) |
| Deportivo and Espanyol have just sold their TV
rights for the next three years, the former to Sogecable and the latter to TV3
for €21 million per annum and €12 million per annum respectively.
(28.06.03) |
| Deportivo and Espanyol have just sold their TV
rights for the next three years, the former to Sogecable and the latter to TV3
for €21 million per annum and €12 million per annum respectively.
(28.06.03) |
| A solution appears to be on the horizon to the
threat by the smaller clubs to delay the start of the league. A better offer
has been made from the TV companies and the clubs may be given a larger part of
the pools takings as well to bolster their income. (27.06.03) |
| Atlético Madrid will be allowed by the
legal authorities to carry out a capital increase of around €36 million,
provided that ex president Jesús Gil and his replacement Enrique Cerezo
pay out the €11.6 million they should have paid out when they took over
the club in 1992. The increase will be partly settled by the capitalization of
debt to suppliers, players etc., but there will be some new cash coming in
which should allow the club up to bring themselves up to date with their
financial obligations. (27.06.03) |
| Espanyol have complained that Deportivo La
Coruña have fallen behind with the term payments for the transfer of
Sergio two seasons ago. (27.06.03) |
| Mallorca are waiting to the 10th July to decide
on their transfers for next season. By that date the club hopes to have a
capital increase in place which will enable them to hold on to their star
players. (27.06.03) |
| Jesús Gil is in trouble with the law
again. Atlético Madrid's ex-president has been charged with four counts
of tax evasion while at the club amounting to €12.8 million, plus other
charges of falsification of accounting records. (26.06.03) |
| Valencia's ex president Paco Roig may take up an
offer to become the new owner of Compostela after his bid to oust Jaime
Ortí failed. The Gallician club have debts of around €6 million,
including €1.8 million in back pay to players and employees.
(26.06.03) |
| Málaga's owners have confirmed that the
club is for sale if the asking price of around €20 million can be met. Ex
Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz is one of the interested parties.
(25.06.03) |
| Atlético Madrid are having problems
settling their debts with players and have offered to pay 70% of the
outstanding amount now and the rest in September. Not everyone has excepted
their proposal though, and the club could be reported to the league.
(24.06.03) |
| Real Madrid are hoping to reach an agreement with
the RFEF to use the federation "Ciudad de Fútbol" training facilities in
Madrid. To meet all the club's stringent demands though will cost around
€1.8 million in renovation work, which Madrid would have to pay
themselves. (23.06.03) |
| Already relegated Oviedo need to find €1.5
million by the end of July to pay off their players, otherwise they will drop a
further division for default. (23.06.03) |
| Salamanca's players demanded an explanation from
management as to what is the real economic situation of the club. Employees had
not yet been paid their May payroll, and several players have threatened to
denounce the club if delays continue. However their plight is not as bad as
others such as for example Las Palmas, where the March salaries have only just
been dished out. (18.06.03) |
| Real Madrid is the football club with the highest
turnover in the world, according to the magazine World Soccer. As per their
figures, their net income amount to €252 million, well above second placed
Manchester United's €207 million. The only other club in the top twenty is
Barcelona, who are in seventh place, invoicing €148 million despite their
poor season. (06.06.03) |
| Compostela could be saved after their
shareholders approved a €13 million capital increase, backed by the local
town council. (03.06.03) |
| Badajoz captain Baines confirmed that several
players were having financial problems as the club were behind with salary
payments. (02.06.03) |
| Málaga's players were angry with the
club's president Serafín Roldán after he apparently went back on
his word to pay out increased win bonuses this season. Roldán denied
that he had promised such a thing, saying that it was all due to a series of
misunderstandings and that he was very upset by the accusations.
(30.05.03) |
| Xerez manager Bernd Schuster denounced his club
to the labour authorities for failing to pay him and his players for the last
two months. If the debt is not settled, Schuster will not have to complete the
last year of his contract and he will be a free agent in the summer.
(16.05.03) |
| Las Palmas staff and players decided to go on
strike this week after not being paid for five months. The players refused to
train as a protest. (15.05.03) |
| Ex-president Francisco Roig has offered €600
a share to small shareholders of Valencia in order to win back control of the
club. Valued at only €48 each, many shareholders have shown an interest.
(15.05.03) |
| Elche management have promised that they will be
paid their March payroll by next week. (14.05.03) |
| Oviedo may have found a way out of their
financial crisis. Together with the local town mayor they have agreed a plan
for the club to file for protection from creditors and for the training ground
and the rights to the club name to be bought by the municipal authorities. Once
an agreement with creditors has been reached (the largest of which is the tax
man), the share capital will be reduced to zero and new shares issued, limiting
shareholders to a maximum 5%. The whole deal will be backed by the local
council, who will continue to charge a nominal rent for the stadium. (09.05.03)
|
| The independent audit carried out by the new
management of Tenerife revealed debts amounting to €47 million.
(08.05.03) |
| Zaragoza have complained that Levante may have
been offering win bonuses to their opponents in an attempt to motivate them to
beat their promotion rivals. Compostela players are rumoured to have collected
€24,000 from the Valencia based side under the table, although Levante
strongly deny any such dealings. (06.05.03) |
| Valencia were fined Sw.Fr.20,000 by UEFA for
racist insults by their fans at certain Arsenal players in their Champions
League tie earlier in the season. (02.05.03) |
| Barcelona's stand-in president Enric Reyna is
expected to announce a deficit for the year of around 30 million Euros when he
presents his resignation to members next week. (30.04.03) |
| The media company Audiovisual Sport have offered
the LFP €270 million for television rights for next year's league.
Although an increase of almost 10% over this season, the clubs want more and
are threatening to delay the start of the season as a result.
(27.04.03) |
| Sevilla have been condemned by the supreme court
to pay Barcelona €1.8 million for breach of contract over the transfer of
Nando to Real Madrid in 1992. (27.04.03) |
| Valencia's ex president Paco Roig claimed that
the club owes €24 million to the players in back pay. Albelda and Ayala,
acting as spokesmen for the players, said this was not true.
(14.04.03) |
| Las Palmas will be able to go to the ball! A
fairy godmother has turned up in the form of the local political party the PGC
to pay the €9,000 for their trip to Almería at the weekend. Now the
problem is who will pay for their next away trip to Eibar.
(13.04.03) |
| The provincial authorities of Guipuzcoa have
agreed to subsidise Real Sociedad's new Zubieta XXI training facilities to the
tune of €11 million. (11.04.03) |
| Málaga's management have informed their
squad that the bonuses payable for staying in the first division and for
reaching the UEFA cup positions will not now be increased as previously
promised. The club are cash-strapped at the moment, and have still not been
able to pay up this year's bonus for qualifying for the UEFA competition as one
of the three winners of the Intertoto cup. (11.04.03) |
| Oviedo's failure to be able to pay their
electricity bill resulted in the power being cut off at their training ground
for a week. The €18,000 debt was finally settled by a local businessman.
Staff and players have not been paid since January, and the team have to travel
across Spain in a coach to play away games as they cannot afford the air fare.
(10.04.03) |
| Las Palmas may not be able to play their next
away match at Almería as they do not have enough money to pay for their
air fares. Local companies have already come to their rescue on three previous
occasions, but now they need raise €9,000 (actually less than one day's
salary for Zinedine Zidane or Ronaldo) to be able to fly to the mainland again.
(09.04.03) |
| Samuel Eto'o has found a novel way to make up to
his fans for his sending off against Barcelona. The Camerooni international has
offered to pay for a meal for all the 5,000 or so supporters who are expected
to turn up for the cup final in Elche at the end of June. (08.04.03)
|
| Sporting Gijon and Compostela are both thinking
of selling players and collecting in advance to try and get them up to date
with payments to their players. The Asturians are offering Villa as a guarantee
for a bank loan and the Gallicians are negotiating the sale of Maikel to
Levante. Failure to make the payments by the end of the season will mean
automatic relegation. (07.04.03) |
| Patrick Kluivert is reported to be close to
signing a new boot deal with Adidas which is expected to be worth around
€900,000. The Barcelona striker has been wearing unmarked footware for the
last few weeks pending the reaching of an agreement. He still has a long way to
go though to match Beckham's €1,6 million contract. (06.04.03) |
| Local press reports suggested that Valencia's
reported debt of €100 million could be almost double. The club may have to
sell players in the summer, including Kily, Carew and even Cañizares,
and is apparently also studying selling their central Mestalla ground for
redevelopment and moving to a municipal stadium. They are also in talks to
renew television rights, another important source of income.
(02.04.03) |
| Málaga say they need to transfer a player
in the summer to make ends meet as they have a budget deficit of around €9
million. (01.04.03) |
| Things are starting to move in the Canary
Islands. Las Palmas announced that their new stadium, imaginatively called El
Nuevo Estadio, should be inaugurated on 27th April against Salamanca. Tenerife
are planning their capital increase, due for later this month as well.
(01.04.03) |
| The Elche players have complained that they have
not yet received their February payroll, and Xerez just have after Bernd
Schuster had a strong word with his president. Meanwhile the squad at Sporting
Gijon have agreed to wait until the end of May before taking any action on
unpaid fees. (31.03.03) |
| Córdoba are appealing for help to the
local council after their massive spending spree on players this winter landed
them with huge losses. (31.03.03) |
| Racing Santander have reached an agreement with
the local government in Cantabria for a 1.8 million Euros cash injection to
develop the youth football and to include publicity on their shirts.
(28.03.03) |
| Las Palmas and Sporting Gijon are both back in
the news after failing to pay back wages and salaries to their players. Having
had the transfer fee for Angel embargoed by Salamanca for an outstanding
transfer fee, Las Palmas have now been unable to pay the payroll for the last
three months. Sporting for their part have had to delay payment once again for
the annual signing fees of their players due from last summer, and as this is
the third time the club have reneged on payment the players are considering
their options. (27.03.03) |
| Real Mallorca lost their court case against Betis
for the payment of 900,000 euros in promissory notes which were endorsed over
by Oviedo to the Sevilla based club last season. Mallorca had issued the bills
as a guarantee for the eventual purchase of Losada who was on loan from the
Asturians, under the verbal understanding that the documents would be returned
if the Islanders did not take up the purchase option. However hard up Oviedo
welched on the agreement and used the bills to pay off an old debt with Betis,
who went to the courts when Mallorca refused to pay up. Mallorca will appeal.
(25.03.03) |
| Oviedo president Manuel Lafuente has offered his
shares to possible investors to try and save the club, and has criticised the
local town council for their continued lack of support. It was only thanks to a
generous local construction company that the €17,000 electricity bill was
paid at their training ground this month. (21.03.03) |
| Iván De la Peña has reportedly
settled with his old club Lazio for an amount of €250,000. The Espanyol
midfielder was claiming an indemnity payment of €2.5 million, but his
lawyers advised him to take the money and run in view of the precarious
financial situation of the Italian club. (12.03.03) |
| Compostela are back in the news after the local
council refused to back a bank guarantee, and the club are now even closer to
disappearing this summer. Players and staff have not been paid now for seven
months, but even so controversial president José María Caneda was
re-elected at the recent AGM. Meanwhile the supposedly new shareholder Martins
failed to pay up and has been arrested by local police for fraud. Club captain
Pablo Pinillos has got tired of waiting and has found an alternative source of
income though: he posed nude recently in the Spanish magazine
"Intervíu". (12.03.03) |
| Salamanca's capital increase got off to a good
start after club president Juan José Hidalgo managed to convince Ronaldo
to subscribe to €30,000 in shares. Although fairly symbolic, the move
gives the club some free publicity and should encourage others to follow suit.
Ronaldo is a close friend of Hidalgo's, and has even helped the club with new
signings from Brazil. (10.03.03) |
| Good news for Tenerife players and staff. New
president Víctor Pérez Ascanio has kept his word and paid the
payrolls for January and February (almost) on time. The club is still
struggling financially though, and will be proposing a capital increase in
their EGM at the end of this month. (10.03.03) |
| Xerez have finally made peace with the local
council in their home town of Jerez de la Frontera after a dispute which has
lasted almost two years. The club were forced to find a stadium out of town
when the then president Luis Oliver fell out with the town mayor, but new
president Gil Salgado has reached an agreement to play free of charge in the
Chapín stadium, and for the council to sponsor the junior teams.
(07.03.03) |
| Salamanca brought their salary payments up to
date after collecting on an old debt for the transfer of Edu Alonso to Las
Palmas. The club had imposed an embargo on the Canary Islanders, and when they
collected for the sale of Angel to Celta the money went straight to the
Salamanca bank account. (03.03.03) |
| Valladolid and Dragan Ciric have reached an out
of court settlement on publicity rights. The club owed their Yugoslavian
midfielder €432,000 from two seasons ago and another €600,000 from
last season, and have agreed to pay up in the near future once they collect on
television rights. (26.02.03) |
| Dmitri Piterman is now the largest shareholder in
Racing Santander after buying 24.6% of the share capital from ex president
Santiago Díaz. The Russian-born American businessman, who had to give
away his shares in second division B side Palamos under league rules, is
expected to take over as president on Saturday and will put up funds to bail
out their debts. However training staff are concerned as he has also said that
wants to have a say in managing the team. (17.01.03) |
| Elche were the latest second division club to be
behind with salary payments. They failed to pay out the December payroll,
although the players are confident that they will do so in the near future.
(16.01.03) |
| Las Palmas players have finally been paid part of
their back wages after the club managed to sell off the executive boxes for
their new stadium. The club still did not raise enough cash to clear all the
registered debts with players though, and cannot make new signings until they
do so. (15.01.03) |
| Sporting Gijon found a novel way to get rid of
their controversial away shirts and to raise a bit of cash into the bargain.
The blue shirts were unpopular as that is the colour of their rivals Oviedo,
and after losing the first time they wore them they were put up for sale by
auction. The shirt worn by star striker David Villa apparently went for
€250. (14.01.03) |
| Osasuna's members have decided to mortgage the
club's assets to local authorities in order to refinance 18 million euros of
debt. An agreement has been reached with the Pamplona town council who will
reportedly put up an 18 year bank guarantee once formal approval has been
agreed by the government of Navarra. (11.01.03) |
| Osasuna's members have decided to mortgage the
club's assets to local authorities in order to refinance 18 million euros of
debt. An agreement has been reached with the Pamplona town council who will
reportedly put up an 18 year bank guarantee once formal approval has been
agreed by the government of Navarra. (11.01.03) |
| Logroñés have been saved. Two local
businessmen, ex presidents of Zaragoza and Recreativo Huelva, stepped in to
take over the club and pay the outstanding debt to the players. Earlier it was
reported that the legal administrator had reached an agreement with a
pornographic website to bail out the club, but the latest offer was considered
a more serious proposition. (10.01.03) |
| Compostela president José María
Caneda is searching desperately for an investor who could help the club out of
it's financial difficulties. The players are threatening to strike in 15 days
time if they are not paid at least part of the five months wages they are due.
(10.01.03) |
| Barcelona's first two captains, Luis Enrique and
Cocu, are facing a two million Euro tax demand from the Spanish fiscal
authorities for publicity rights. The club is making an appeal against the
decision, but if that is unsuccessful the players are demanding that
Barça pay the fine. Rivaldo went through a similar situation, and others
could follow. (09.01.03) |
| Dimitri Pierman, the flamboyant Russian president
of second division B side Palamós, has made an offer of 3.6 million
Euros to Santiago Diaz, the president and majority shareholder of Racing
Santander, to buy his 51% shareholding in the club. With the possibility of
liquidation only eight days away, and problems raising guarantees for the 12
million euros financing, it may be the only way out. (08.01.03) |
| Málaga's players are claiming a win bonus
for beating Leeds in the UEFA cup. Although nothing formal had been agreed,
club president Serafín Roldán had promised Joaquín
Peiró he would give them something if they qualified. That "something"
has not yet been forthcoming, and with 1.2 million euros still due for winning
through the Intertoto cup and qualifying for the competition in the first
place, the players are naturally concerned. (29.12.02) |
| Betis are taking legal action against Mallorca
for non payment of promissory notes worth around €500,000. The bills were
originally given to Oviedo as a guarantee in case Mallorca wanted to take up a
purchase option on Losada, loaned to them last season. In the end the option
was never exercised, but hard up Oviedo had already transferred the bills to
Betis to settle an outstanding debt for the transfer of Oli. When Betis tried
to cash them in, Mallorca refused to pay, saying they were no longer valid, and
now the courts must decide who was right. (24.12.02) |
| Salamanca have approved a capital increase of
around seven million Euros to try and bail the club out of their financial
difficulties. Their plans include the entry of new shareholders and the sale of
their installations to the local authorities to raise cash. (23.12.02)
|
| Second division B side Logroñes are in
real danger of going out of existence after their players decided to go on
strike and refused to turn up for the last match. The ex first division club is
already under the control of the courts, and owes four months back wages to
players and staff. (22.12.02) |
| Zaragoza have finally reached an agreement with
Audiovisual Sport and their matches will be televised again as from January.
(19.12.02) |
| Sporting Gijon's Russian striker Igor Lediakhov
has won his court case against his club for unfair dismissal and has been
awarded €428,000 in severance pay. The club may appeal though, and if they
do, the player has to stay on their books until the case has been resolved.
(16.12.02) |
| Deportivo La Coruña recognise that their
total debt amounts to 144 million Euros, although club president Lendoiro says
he is not too concerned. (16.12.02) |
| Atlético Madrid's controversial president
Jesús Gil has said he will pay the two month's back wages his club owes
the players in the near future. Gil claims that is difficult to get finance
with so many court cases hanging over his head, but with the "caso jinete"
being found in his favour this week, he is hopeful that things are on the way
up. (12.12.02) |
| The shareholders of the construction company ACS
have complained that their president Florentino Pérez is spending much
less time directing their business since he took over as president of Real
Madrid. (05.12.02) |
| Compostela players have reported the club to the
AFE after going a fourth month without wages. Club president José
María Caneda has said he would resign at the shareholders meeting in two
weeks time after a long fight with the local town council.
(05.12.02) |
| Manager Bernd Schuster has said he may leave
Xerez in the near future as new president Gil Salgado has not solved the
problem of back pay due to the players. Schuster turned down offers from top
teams to stay at the second division side after the club changed hands in the
summer. (04.12.02) |
| Recreativo cut costs by travelling by coach the
1,600 kilometres between Huelva and Villarreal for this weekend's game. As a
result they also saved on the win bonus as the tired players lost the game 1-0.
(01.12.02) |
| After reporting the club to the AFE for
non-payment of back pay, Sporting Gijon players and staff finally collected the
two months salary they were owed. This was only possible though thanks to a
personal guarantee given to the bank from the now ex president Juan Arango, who
resigned a couple of weeks ago but who kept his promise to bring payments up to
date before he left. (28.11.02) |
| Racing Santander's shareholders have given
themselves until 15th January to find 11 million Euros in new funds, otherwise
the club will be put into liquidation. Technically bankrupt after their
accumulated losses exceeded their share capital, they will be forced to take
this step unless local authorities, banks and businesses can help them out. All
signs are though that the money will be in place before the deadline is
reached. (26.11.02) |
| Lazio have reached an agreement with Valencia to
settle the outstanding debt for Mendieta by transferring collection rights on
debts outstanding from Barcelona (for the loan of Mendieta himself) and Real
Sociedad (for the sale of Kovacevic). (22.11.02) |
| Real Madrid's multi-million Euro deal for the
development of four tower blocks on their old training ground is being
challenged in court. The civil servant action group "Manos Limpias" is taking
action against the club and the local authorities to have the agreement
cancelled, as they say it goes against public interest and contravenes
environmental regulations. (21.11.02). |
| The players of Olimpia de Asunción have
settled their dispute over back pay and will travel to Tokyo to play Real
Madrid in the Intercontinental cup. (21.11.02) |
| The players of second division B Lleida have
reported their club to the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) for failing to
pay back wages, and the squads of 2A sides Compostela, Sporting and Salamanca
may soon do the same. The move prevents clubs from signing new players until
the debts are settled. (21.11.02) |
| Numancia have closed their financial year with
debts of 18 million Euros. (20.11.02) |
| Terrassa fans are complaining about the high
price of tickets for their third round cup match with Real Madrid. (20.11.02)
|
| The final of the Intercontinental cup might have
to be called off as the players of South American champions Olimpia de
Asunción have refused to travel unless they collect outstanding bonus
payments. The Paraguayan side are due to meet European champions Real Madrid in
Tokyo at the start of next month. (19.11.02) |
| Atlético Madrid's gate money has been
embargoed by the Caja Cantabria savings bank for the non payment of bills
relating to the transfer of Colsa from Racing Santander. The player is
currently on loan to Valladolid. (14.11.02) |
| Salamanca were unable to pay last months wages
due to lack of funds. (13.11.02) |
| Players and technical staff from second division
B side Motril locked themselves in their changing room as a protest about two
months' unpaid wages. (13.11.02) |
| Oviedo are trying to find a way to pay Eibar the
amount still owing of €175,000 for the transfer of Gurrutxaga.
(07.11.02) |
| Compostela president José María
Caneda has sold a large part of his shareholding to Portuguese businessman Jose
Moreira Martins, who is bringing much needed cash into the club. The new vice
president has already paid off Adriano who was owed €180,000 in publicity
rights, and the squad hope to collect their three months outstanding salary in
the next few days. (06.11.02) |
| Albacete hope to be able to pay off some of their
debts when they reach an agreement with Castilla-La Mancha regional television
for a five year contract. The deal is expected to bring in €900,000 over
that period, and will allow them to put up the necessary guarantees to secure a
loan from the local savings bank. It will not be enough though to bring them
right up to date. Amongst other things, the club reportedly owes €600,000
to the tax man. (05.11.02) |
| Thousands Las Palmas fans took to the street
around the world to appeal for help in saving their club. The demonstration was
organised by supporters clubs, and a marathon radio phone-in show managed to
raise the princely sum of, well, €3,000. Every little helps.
(02.11.02) |
| Hadjuk Split are threatening to take
Alavés to court for what they say is an outstanding payment of 550,000
Euros for Vucko. The first division side claim they only owe 100,000 Euros.
(01.11.02) |
| Levante have been unable to find anyone who will
insure the promotion bonuses of their players, which would have to be paid if
they go up to the first division. This is apparently a normal practise to cover
an extraordinary cost, but the risk that the Valencia based side could finish
in the top three is reportedly too high. (31.10.02) |
| Las Palmas have apparently sold six VIP boxes
for their new stadium and can therefore keep going to the end of the season at
least. (30.10.02) |
| Anonymous fan pays €9,000 travel costs for
Las Palmas away game at Almería. (29.10.02) |
| Bernd Schuster suspended the training session at
Xerez today after the players protested about the club's continuing failure to
pay back wages due from the end of last season. (25.10.02) |
| According to press reports from Italy, Real
Madrid have not yet paid Inter Milan the latest instalment for the transfer of
Ronaldo. An amount of 10 million Euros was apparently due at the beginning of
the month which the club say they have not yet received. Madrid deny that they
are behind with any payments. (21.10.02) |
| Compostela president José María
Caneda has promised to pay back wages to his players before he sells his shares
in the club. Caneda is reportedly talking to several potential buyers.
(18.10.02) |
| Extremadura have agreed with veteran striker Kiko
to pay him with shares in the club. The ex Atlético Madrid international
was owed 70,000 Euros in back salary after playing for the side in the second
half of last season. (17.10.02) |
