 Maria De la Peña will carry on as
president of Real Sociedad after a hot tempered shareholders meeting narrowly
voted in favour of the continuity of the current board of directors. De la
Peña took over recently after her predecessor Miguel Fuentes resigned.
(30.06.07) |
| Albacete's shareholders approved a capital
increase of €2.3 million in their annual meeting today. The issue will be
in four stages, firstly offering one share to all the new campaign's season
ticket holders, secondly to existing shareholders, thirdly to local public and
non-profit making institutions and finally to the general public, with a
maximum limit of ten shares per person. The club has been in financial
difficulties recently and still owes back pay to players and staff. (30.06.07)
|
| Real Madrid Castilla could be reinstated to the
second division if any one of four or five teams is relegated for non-payment
of wages to players, or for other breaches of league rules. Alavés have
total debts of around €23 million, but a spokesman said that everything
would be sorted out before the end of July deadline. Meanwhile Xerez are still
not out of debt with their players after the local council only paid them
€70,000, half of what they owed, and Las Palmas and Granada 74 still have
to complete paperwork to ensure they stay in the second division. (29.06.07)
|
| Sevilla's first time appearance in the Champions
League has hit a snag before their opening game has even taken place. The
club's recent success has meant that a waiting list has had to be opened up at
the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium for new season ticket holders, but
with UEFA needing 5% of the ground's seating for VIPs, sponsors and general
hangers-on, there will not be enough room for the 41,700 members! (28.06.07)
|
| Second division B side Miapuesta Figueres will be
moving to Castelldefels after the major shareholder decided on a change of
location and name in a heated shareholders meeting today. The club were
established 88 years ago in the town which is best known as being the place
where Salvador Dali lived. (28.06.07) |
| Newly promoted Almería have reached an
agreement with savings bank Cajamar for them to sponsor the club and invest
€3.5 million in improvements to the Mediterranean stadium. Capacity will
be increased from 15,000 to around 24,000, and the ground will change it's name
to the Cajamar stadium for the next four years. (26.06.07) |
| A group of businessmen from Oviedo have shown an
interest in buying the major shareholding in Salamanca. Mexican impresario
Jorge Vergara, owner of Chivas and previously linked with a possible purchase
of Atlético, has apparently made an offer for Málaga, and a group
reportedly with connections to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic is considering a
bid for Castellón. (25.06.07) |
| Cádiz president Antonio Muñoz has
sold his majority shareholding to ex Real Madrid presidential candidate Arturo
Baldasano, who himself is from the area. Baldasano has brought in ex Madrid
coaches Vicente Del Bosque and Mariano García Remón as technical
advisor and coach respectively. (20.06.07) |
| As well as Ciudad Murcia, four of five other
second division clubs could possibly change hands this summer, although none
are expected to move from their existing locations. The list includes
Cádiz, Xerez, Castellón, Málaga and Alavés.
(17.06.07) |
| With the end of season approaching, there is
talk once again of "maletines", illegal third party win bonuses paid in cash
(supposedly) by clubs to sides who are playing against their rivals for
promotion, relegation or whatever other issue. The latest reports are that
Mallorca players are collectively on €3 million incentive to take at least
a point off Real Madrid in the last game, although nobody is saying who from
and everybody of course denies it. (12.06.07) |
| Granada 74 president Carlos Marsá has
announced that he has bought out Ciudad Murcia and that he will be moving the
club to his home town. The Andalusian regional division side were only created
recently as the city's third club, and they still have to find a ground which
meets league requirements. (06.06.07) |
| For some time now, Betis maximum shareholder and
ex president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera has said he would be selling the club. Don
Manuel has now announced that the supporters' clubs ("peñas") could buy
it at a snip for €60 million, but if not then the asking price for anybody
else would be €90 million! Fans are breaking open their piggy banks, but
it is unlikely they will be able to raise anywhere near the asking price.
(04.06.07) |
| "Girl Power" continues within the Basque clubs,
Real Sociedad following in the footsteps of Athletic Bilbao by naming a
caretaker lady president after Miguel Fuentes resigned. María de la
Peña will be the new club chairman until elections can be held.
Meanwhile Ana Urquijo confirmed that Athletic's presidential elections will be
taking place on 12th July. (01.06.07) |
| The takeover of Xerez has been put on ice after
president Joaquín Morales took exception to the fact that potential
purchaser José Fouto had announced that he had already bought the
company. The club owe several months back pay to their players and staff.
Meanwhile outgoing Ciudad Murcia owner Quique Pina said he was interested in
buying Cádiz. (31.05.07) |
| More news from Alavés, where it was
announced that the club's debts had more than doubled to €20 million in
the last couple of years. An important part of the debt is due to players, and
the club could go down if these are not settled by the end of July. Meanwhile
bids continue to come in, with the group headed by ex Barcelona forward
José Manuel Asensi confirming an offer of €3 million. (28.05.07)
|
| Sevilla president José María del
Nido told a financial news chain that he may be interested in launching the
club on the stock exchange. In answer to questions from the interviewer, del
Nido replied that he felt that Spain were behind countries such as England on
these issues, and that it would be a good idea to make use of international
financial institutions for this purpose. (22.05.07) |
| To add insult to injury, some 400 Espanyol fans
were stuck at Barcelona airport instead of travelling to Glasgow to see their
team lose an epic UEFA cup final to fellow Spaniards Sevilla. The supporters
had bought tickets through a travel agent, but the plane failed to show up and
it appears they had been victims of a fraud. The club are studying what actions
they should take to help them at least get their money back. (17.05.07)
|
| Struggling second division B side Real Oviedo
failed in their attempt to buy out Ciudad Murcia's place in the second division
A, and they now have to accept their probable relegation to the regional third
division. The Asturian club had reportedly offered €12 million for the
place, but Ciudad president and owner Quique Pina is holding out for the asking
price of €23 million. (16.05.07) |
| Real Valladolid are well on the way to securing
their financial future after the local council approved plans for a
multi-functional sports pavilion, the Valladolid Arena. The club have promised
to build the stadium in exchange for planning permission to convert a training
ground into a commercial centre. (09.05.07) |
| Alavés president Dmitri Piterman has
apparently received another written offer from Vitoria based businessmen to buy
his shareholding in the club. The offer though is dependent upon the club
staying up. (05.05.07) |
| Ponferradina re having problems raising the
necessary capital to convert into a "sporting limited company" (SAD). Under
league rules, clubs newly promoted to the second division A have one year to
make the conversion. But with the side down in the relegation spots, fans and
other investors are dragging their feet. (04.05.07) |
| Ronaldinho told local press that he never has any
money on him when he goes out to eat, as the restaurant owners always end up
inviting him! He apparently only carries a credit card on him when he has to
pay for his petrol at a gas station! (02.05.07) |
| A group of Maltese investors are trying to buy
into a Spanish first division clubs. Having been turned down by Getafe, their
attention apparently turned to Levante and Betis, but so far they have had no
luck. (01.05.07) |
| UD Las Palmas have finally completed their
creditors agreement which they signed in November 2004 as part of their
insolvency process, and they can now return to normality. They still though
have to fight off the CSD (superior sports council), who are insisting that
they have to carry out a capital increase of €37 million within the next
six months to avoid automatic relegation. (27.04.07) |
| Levante and Mallorca have both offered free
tickets for the next match to anybody who gives blood at facilities set up in
their stadiums over the next few days. The initiative is part of a campaign to
increase the number of blood donors in the country. (26.04.07) |
| Nàstic have finally decided on a new
president, Xavier Salvadó elected to replace Raúl Font in the
next few days. Salvadó was a member of the group headed up by
constructor José Luis García who took over the board last month.
García holds 35% of the club, and is the largest shareholder together
with the local city council. (24.04.07) |
| More problems for Albacete after the tax
authorities advised the club that they were going to slap an embargo on them
for debts of around €2 million. A local savings bank had promised to put
up the money but they are now asking for personal guarantees from members of
the board, and with the president about to leave and nobody prepared to take
over, that is unlikely to happen. (23.04.07) |
| Los Angeles Galaxy are already cashing in on the
signing of Real Madrid's David Beckham. Before the player has even started to
play for his new club, a financial website claims that they have taken $13
million in income, which is more than double his reported annual salary of $5.5
million. (20.04.07) |
| The Madrid courts have allowed a claim for
damages to be submitted by Atlético Madrid against FIFA for the injury
to Maxi whilst playing in an international match for Argentina last year. The
player missed a large part of the season as a result, and Atlético are
claiming €2.5 million, corresponding to the cost to the club over the six
months he was out. The club's lawyers claim that the FIFA regulations on this
contravene articles of the EU treaty. (19.04.07) |
| As reported previously on these pages, the
shareholders of Hércules have completed the purchase of the Rico
Pérez stadium from the Alicante city council. The deal was set at a
price of €7.8 million, with a further €4.2 million to be put in for
ground improvements. The agreement guarantees that Hércules can use the
stadium for their matches for the next 25 years. (15.04.07) |
| Valladolid president Carlos Suárez
scotched rumours that the club's probable place in the first division could be
sold to a group of La Rioja based investors in the summer. The rumours came
about after the club's plans to build a new sporting arena hit snags with
approvals from the local council, but Suárez said that everything had
been sorted out. (11.04.07) |
| More financial problems for Spain's second
division B sides. The players of Ourense have decided not to turn up for
training until the club pays them the two months of back wages they are owed.
(09.04.07) |
| Alavés president Dmitri Piterman has
acquired the franchise of California Victory, who play in the United Soccer
League (equivalent to their second division). The team will play in
Alavés colours, and ex Alavés midfielder Juan Epitié will
be one of their star players. (07.04.07) |
| Spain's international side do not have their own
song, but apparently this was not always the case. A football historian paid
€6.00 to buy an old record on internet, and was amazed to find a track on
the B side called "Leones Rojos" (red lions) which, he later discovered, had
been played at two international matches in 1936/7. However General Franco was
not over the moon about the wording and it was withdrawn! (04.04.07)
|
| Athletic Bilbao's players have agreed to pay for
part of the fans' costs to travel to the upcoming away game at Racing
Santander. With ticket prices for this match at the Sardinero stadium between
€60 and €140 (Spain reportedly has amongst the highest prices in
Europe), the squad have agreed to contribute €30 a head to encourage more
supporters to make the trip. (01.04.07) |
| Hard up Albacete have had to sell virtually the
entire youth team to raise funds for their coffers. The club's outgoing
president has reached an agreement with Villarreal to sell 17 young players,
including under 17 international keeper Yelco, for €1.8 million. The deal
has received strong opposition from shareholders and fans, as well as the
players' parents who were not told what was going on. (31.03.07) |
| The Tarragona local council and Gimnàstic
Tarragona made a joint presentation of the proposed new "sporting city", which
will include a new 16,000 seater stadium for the club as well as training
pitches and other facilities. The project is expected to be completed at the
beginning of 2009. (30.03.07) |
| Just a few months after they opened their
"sporting centre", Recreativo Huelva have announced plans together with the
local town council to expand the capacity of the Nuevo Colombino stadium by
6,500 seats to 26,500. Building work will begin next year. (29.03.07)
|
| A group led by ex Barcelona forward Juan Manuel
Asensi has made an offer to Dmitri Piterman to buy his majority shareholding in
Alavés. The offer was apparently "considerably higher" than the €3
million Piterman reportedly paid to acquire 51% of the club's shares.
(29.03.07) |
| Ciudad Murcia may be up for removals after club
president Quique Pina failed to agree assistance from the local town council.
Pina said he was prepared to sell the recently formed club on a "franchise"
basis to any bidder, and groups from several towns including Oviedo, Granada
and Málaga have already shown an interest. A doubt still remains though
whether this would be legal under Spanish footballing regulations. (28.03.07)
|
| Nàstic are still looking for a new
president after local businessman Josep María Andreu resigned a few
weeks ago. An extraordinary general meeting elected the new board today, with
their major shareholder the local Tarragona city council abstaining. But with
the club languishing at the bottom of the table nobody was keen to take over
the top spot, and acting president Raúl Font has been asked to stay on.
(27.03.07) |
| Deportivo are still battling with Paraguayan
international Toro Acuña over back pay. Courts ruled that the club had
to pay him €800,000 for wrongful dismissal under Spanish labour law rules
after he was fired last year. But now he is claiming through his lawyer another
€260,000 in wages, of which the club only accepts less than half.
(26.03.07) |
| Barcelona made €1.2 million last season just
by renting out their installations. Conference rooms are available for up to
400 persons, and the adjacent 15,000 seater mini-stadium and 7,000 seater Palau
Blaugrana sports hall are also a good source of income. (23.03.07) |
| Ex Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz advised his
son Fernando to abandon the presidency of Málaga if he didn't get the
support he needed from certain sectors surrounding the club. The Andalusian
side are struggling financially, and Sanz said he would put in another
€500,000 to help them out as his son did want to carry on. (20.03.07)
|
| Atlético Madrid and Getafe confirmed that
they have tied up a five year deal with Telemadrid for television rights,
starting from the 2009/10 season. (19.03.07) |
| Real Madrid issued an announcement on their
website denying rumours that president Ramón Calderón had
commissioned a study into the possibility of converting the club into a limited
company (SAD) and putting the Santiago Bernabeu stadium up for sale. (16.03.07)
|
| Albacete are in danger of being wound, up a
spokesman admitted today. The club are heavily in debt, and the tax authorities
have placed an embargo on €18,500 of income they get from the "quinielas",
the local betting pools. A local savings bank is studying a possible loan to
bale them out. (13.03.07) |
| Dmitri Piterman has reportedly offered a
€100,000-a-head bonus to most of the Alavés players if they go up
this year. His money seems safe though, partly because the side are closer to
the bottom than the top, but also because the squad are considering turning it
down if players who have fallen out with the controversial president are not
included. (12.03.07) |
| Athletic Bilbao presented plans for their new
home today. The new ground will be built overlapping the current San
Mamés stadium, and is expected to be given a five star rating by UEFA.
(06.03.07) |
| Hércules have tied up a shirt sponsorship
deal with the Valencia regional tourist association for next season worth
€522,000. The club's kit will bear the logo "Comunitat Valenciana" as from
the summer. (01.03.07) |
| Real Sociedad have been losing members each year
for the last three years, and their more than likely relegation to the second
division could affect the numbers even further. Current figures stand at
20,636, almost 7,000 down on three seasons ago. (28.02.07) |
| The owner of second division B side Jaén
is prepared to sell the club to any serious buyer for the price of one Euro!
The Andalusians were relegated from the second division a couple of seasons
ago, and Juan Miguel Hitos says he has put in over 3 million Euros since he has
been in charge. However recent criticisms of the financial management of the
club has caused him to call it a day. (23.02.07) |
| Real Madrid presidential candidate Juan Miguel
Villar Mir has decided in the end not to proceed with the appeal against the
recent sentence to disallow postal votes in last summer's election. The
decision means that Ramón Calderón continues as president,
although Villar Mir called upon him to hold elections again next summer given
the doubts over the validity of the electoral procedures. (15.02.07)
|
| Albacete's idea to improve their financial
position by commercial developments within the Carlos Belmonte stadium has been
scuppered by the local council, who said that the proposals did not fit in with
their development plans. The club have just agreed terms for a €2 million
loan from a local savings bank to pay off outstanding debts with tax
authorities, amongst others. (14.02.07) |
| Real Madrid and Barcelona top this year's
Deloittes ranking of the 20 richest clubs in the world. Based on normal sales
in the 2005/6 season, Madrid's worth is valued at €292 million, with
Barça at €259 million. Juventus, Manchester United, AC Milan,
Chelsea, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Liverpool complete the top
ten. (08.02.07) |
| The latest club to join the second division,
Ponferradina, announced that they expected to complete their conversion to a
"sporting limited company" (SAD) later this week. Newly promoted sides have one
season to make the change and raise a minimum share capital. (06.02.07)
|
| As mentioned previously, the owners of
Hércules are expected to be the only bidders in next week's municipal
auction for the sale of the Rico Pérez stadium. Aligestión will
pay the €7.8 million asking price, and will put in a further €4
million in reforms. The local council have agreed to spend some €3 million
of the takings to remodel the Villafranqueza stadium, allowing the town's other
side Alicante to move from the Rico Pérez to the new ground. (03.02.07)
|
| Ramón Calderón will continue as
president at Real Madrid, for the time being at least, after a judge ruled that
postal votes from last summer's elections would not be counted. The votes were
ruled out after irregularities were discovered, but the other candidates had
appealed for them to be reinstated. The judge however said that the lack of
control meant that the validity of the votes could not be guaranteed. The
candidates are now considering whether to ask for the election to be declared
void, enabling a new election to take place, although this process could take
several months. (01.02.07) |
| According to the Spanish government, first
division clubs had debts totalling some €2,083 million during the
2004/2005 season, and second division clubs owed €291 million in the same
period. The spokesman was replying to a question from another member of
parliament. (27.01.07) |
| Barcelona vice president Ferran Soriano said
that, at the half way stage of the season, the club were on line to make the
budget profit of €20 million. Debts had been reduced from the 2005 figure
of €93 million to around €50 million, and that would make life easier
to finance new signings if they were needed. (25.01.07) |
| Valencia's goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez is
offering a reward to anyone who helps him recover his computer, which was
stolen recently. The computer contained information on training routines,
penalty takers, performances of opposing keepers etc., and was a vital piece of
equipment for Cañizares and his team mates. Needless to say, Alvarez
didn't keep a back up copy. A lesson to be learnt? (24.01.07) |
| The German multinational energy company e.on
could be the new shirt sponsors of Real Madrid next season, according to press
reports. The club are looking to replace current sponsors BenQ after their
recent financial difficulties, and are well advanced with their negotiations.
(23.01.07) |
| Alavés president Dmitri Piterman said that
he had received offers from two groups of businessmen to buy the club, although
he insisted that he had no intention of selling. (23.01.07) |
| Spain's second division B clubs will each receive
a minimum €21,500 as part of the compensation package agreed between the
RFEF and the LFP for the latest restructuring of the Copa del Rey. The €3
million agreement did not include B sides of higher division clubs, who do not
participate in the competition. (18.01.07) |
| Atlético Madrid and Getafe have agreed a
deal worth €300 million with TV company Telemadrid and savings bank Caja
Madrid for the sale of television rights for the period running from 2009 to
2013. The two clubs were negotiating previously together with Real Madrid who,
as reported a few weeks ago, eventually tied up a deal with Mediapro.
(16.01.07) |
| Hard times for Extremadura's top clubs. Both CF
Extremadura and the reformed UD Mérida are languishing in the second
division B after reaching the top flight a few years ago, and now the
Extremadura players are threatening to strike on the eve of the derby between
the two sides after almost four months without being paid. (15.01.07)
|
| Espanyol will be travelling in luxury to their
away games in the future. The club's shirt sponsors Grupo Tarradellas, owned by
vice president Sebastian Javier, are providing a 110 seater plane for the
players, staff, press and supporters to travel to matches. (11.01.07)
|
| Hércules are considering buying back the
Rico Pérez stadium after the local council put it up for auction at an
asking price of around €7.8 million. The club sold it to the Alicante
authorities for €5.4 million some twelve years ago. However any new owner
will have to guarantee it's use by the city's football teams, and will have to
carry out reforms valued at around €6 million. (10.01.07) |
| Cádiz could pull out of their own summer
tournament, the Ramón de Carranza trophy, after a dispute with the town
council over unauthorised building works at the municipal ground. Amongst other
things, the lady mayor (from the centre right Partido Popular) is unhappy that
an electronic scoreboard was installed with publicity for the regional Junta de
Andalusia, which is controlled by the socialist PSOE. (04.01.07) |
| The LFP temporarily blocked new transfers by
Alavés and Xerez after ex players Oscar Téllez and Alex
Fernández presented claims to the players association AFE against their
respective clubs for debts still outstanding. (03.01.07) |
| Real Oviedo appear to be over their financial
crisis at last. Relegated to the lower divisions a few years ago after a
painful bankruptcy, the Asturian club (now in the second division B) have
successfully completed a one million euro capital increase. (02.01.07)
|
| Sporting Gijón's shareholders approved
proposals to accept the legal administrators' plans to renegotiate debts with
creditors, reducing the amount outstanding by around 50% to some €26
million. (28.12.06) |
| Las Palmas hope to be free of their legal
administration after the savings bank CAM accepted an aval for €2.5
million, allowing them to pay off the last of the €21 million they owed to
creditors. (28.12.06) |
| Osasuna president Patxi Izco announced that the
club would be carrying out reforms to the Reyno de Navarra stadium, including
the construction of offices and shops, and further VIP boxes. No date has been
fixed yet though for the project. (22.12.06) |
| Tenerife's shareholders approved the annual
accounts and a future capital increase at the annual general meeting today. The
club also presented more up to date figures which showed that debts had dropped
from €50 million to €41 million, two thirds of which was now long
term. (22.12.06) |
| A bit of help at last for two of the more modest
second division clubs. Local businessmen have clubbed together donations
amounting to €600,000 for Xerez, and the local town council have agreed
subsidies of €300,000 for Ponferradina. (18.12.06) |
| Dmitri Piterman's belligerent attitude has cost
Alavés almost a million euros in sponsorship from the regional
government. The club had signed an agreement with the Diputación de
Alava three years ago for an annual subsidy of €986,000 in exchange for a
series of services, including a friendly tournament, assistance for school
sport and the promotion of regional products and services. But the
controversial president's constant conflicts and criticism of all and sundry
has caused them to cancel the deal. (09.12.06) |
| The management of FC Barcelona will be
commissioning a study to look into the possibility of increasing the capacity
of their 100,000 seater Nou Camp stadium by 20,000, according to a local radio
station. Plans will be presented to club members next September, which are
expected to include the sale of the adjacent "Mini Estadi" and the construction
of a hotel. (04.12.06) |
| The president of UD Las Palmas has begun talks
with a Russian group reportedly linked with Chelsea president Roman Abramovich,
initially for a publicity deal but with a possible view to a take over in the
future. (29.11.06) |
| Betis have had an embargo slapped on their ground
by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia due to the non payment of debts
amounting to some €21,000, according to Spanish press. (27.11.06)
|
| Atlético Madrid announced their annual
results today, in which they presented a positive net income of €3.4
million. The figures were affected though by a €7.4 million payout to
outgoing coach Carlos Bianchi, and unofficial reports suggested that their
indebtedness had risen to €150 million. (23.11.06) |
| Real Madrid president Ramón
Calderón told press that the club had agreed a television deal with
Mediapro which would bring in a record €1,100 million over the next seven
years. Madrid had been close to signing an agreement with Telemadrid worth
€120 million a year, but Mediapro had stepped in to top their offer and
tie up the contract. (20.11.06) |
| Málaga's new president Fernando Sanz
announced that the club would be following in the footsteps of clubs such as
Sporting Gijón and Las Palmas, voluntarily appointing a legal
administrator in the next few days under the Spanish "ley concursal" to
renegotiate the company's €28 million debts. The process is expected to
last a minimum 9 months. (17.11.06) |
| Ronaldinho unveiled today his new line of
sportswear. Produced and marketed by Nike, the line "10R" includes shirts,
bags, footballs and even gold lined shin-pads. (16.11.06) |
| After Sevilla announced that they will have to
move temporarily to the Cartuja stadium next season, Betis owner Don Manuel
Ruíz de Lopera has said that they too want to move there as well in
order for reforms to be carried out in their South goal stand. (11.11.06)
|
| More news on ground moves, with Valencia
presenting architects plans for the Nuevo Mestalla, scheduled for the start of
the 2008-9 season, and Atlético Madrid announcing that their new stadium
could be in Alcorcón, on the outskirts of the capital. (10.11.06)
|
| The league's oldest club Recreativo Huelva opened
their "El Decano" sporting centre today. The complex, which reportedly cost
around €3 million, includes training facilities, pitches, a gymnasium,
offices and restaurants. (08.11.06) |
| Work has finally begun on Espanyol's new stadium
in Cornellà, on the outskirts of Barcelona. The construction had been
delayed pending the approval of local permits, but builders FCC now have 18
months to complete. Elsewhere Getafe presented their project for a new 20,000
seater stadium which should be finished in four years' time. (02.11.06)
|
| At last Sevilla fans can watch their side on
television! The club have reached a five year agreement with Mediapro, part of
the Audiovisual Sport group, who themselves will compensate Santa Monica, who
held the rights for the next three years. (28.10.06) |
| Barcelona have renewed their contract with Nike
to supply their shirts for the next five years at a fee of €30 million
(plus incentives) per year. The agreement matches Manchester United's deal with
the same company, although it is still €10 million short of Real Madrid's
contract with Adidas. (27.10.06) |
| Real Sociedad's bad start to the season is even
having it's effect on the local drinking holes! One of the best known
supporters club bars, the "Bar Antiguo", has announced that it will be closing
it's doors until the team wins two matches in a row. At the rate they are going
it could be a long extended holiday! (24.10.06) |
| Sevilla president José María Del
Nido has struck another blow in his Quixotic battle against the television
companies - he has decided to cancel his Digital + viewing card. Financial
analysts confirmed that the Digital + share price remained unchanged!
(19.10.06) |
| The long running dispute between Real Sociedad
and Athletic Bilbao over defender Iban Zubiaurre appears to be over after a
judge ruled that the player would have to pay the San Sebastian based club an
amount of €5 million. (18.10.06) |
| Valencia's shareholders will be told at heir
upcoming general meeting that the club made a net profit of €16 million
last season. This year though they expect to make almost double, assuming that
is that they have a good run in the Champions League. (16.10.06) |
| Sporting Gijón's finances have been helped
by a €700,000 contribution from the local council to compensate them for
the inconvenience caused by building works at the Molinón stadium. The
club agreed terms to stay at the ground until 2018. (10.10.06) |
| Sevilla club president José María
del Nido has announced plans to remodel the Sánchez Pizjuán
stadium and increase capacity by 10,000 to 57,000. The work, which is expected
to cost around €60 million, will begin at the end of this season, and the
club will have to find a new home (probably Sevilla's Cartuja Olympic stadium)
for the year or so that this will last. (08.10.06) |
| Xerez president Joaquín Morales has had to
lock himself into the Jerez city hall for 24 hours to persuade the local
council to pay up a €2 million grant! The money was agreed some time ago,
but problems with bank guarantees and shortage of funds delayed the operation
by several months. The club needed the cash to settle debts with players
outstanding from last season. (06.10.06) |
| One of La Liga's most traditional clubs Athletic
Bilbao will have a lady president for the first time ever. Lawyer and property
agent Ana Urkijo took over after Fernando Lamikiz resigned together with six
other board members, tired of receiving criticism from fans about his
management. The club didn't even allow women to be members up until around 30
years ago. (29.09.06) |
| Málaga's new president Fernando Sanz is
launching an economy drive to try and improve the club's delicate financial
position. Sanz is proposing to cut the cost of maintaining the junior teams by
70% and has even proposed that some players and staff in the B team work
without pay, but the measures have not gone down well and the players in those
sides are threatening to strike next weekend. (27.09.06) |
| Osasuna's successful season (plus the sale of
Javi Martínez) resulted in a net profit of €2,950,000, president
Patxo Itxo told members at the club's annual general meeting today. The results
come as a relief for Pamplona based side, who are one of four clubs who did not
have to convert to a limited company when the law changed some time ago. The
other three are Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. (22.09.06)
|
| Fabio Capello is starting to put his foot down at
Real Madrid. Players must now have the club's permission to take time off for
marketing activities. David Beckham was the first to be affected, a trip to
Barcelona to make a television advert for a well known sportswear firm being
postponed as it clashed with a training session. (16.09.06) |
| Newly promoted Ponferradina are coming up with
innovative ideas to raise funds. The club are offering season tickets for 20
seats at the front of the directors' box at €6,000 a time, a price only
bettered in Spain by Valencia, who charge €8,100 for VIP boxes. Normal
season ticket holders can also have their name engraved on their seats for a
€10 supplement. (15.09.06) |
| Sevilla's dispute with the television companies
has left fans without coverage of their team's matches. Club president
José María Del Nido turned down the offer from Audiovisual Sport,
who hold the rights to La Liga, as he considers that they should get a better
deal as UEFA Cup champions and the current leaders of the league. (12.09.06)
|
| Barcelona signed their first ever shirt
sponsorship deal with UNICEF, although it was a deal with a difference. Instead
of earning the usual "big bucks", Barça will actually themselves be
paying the charity organization €1.5 million a year over the next five
years for the privilege! However the club are only obliged to carry the name on
the shirt for the first year, and after that they may revert to a more
commercial sponsor. (08.09.06) |
| Alavés have had to take drastic measures
to recruit new season ticket holders after losing 5,600 after going down. Each
current member will receive a free season ticket for under 16s, and members
over 65 will receive two. (07.09.06) |
| The LFP have agreed terms with the new television
channel "La Sexta" to show live matches on an open channel over the next three
seasons. The deal is a blow for the national television channels TVE and La2,
who have been showing live games for many years. (29.08.06) |
| A new first in professional football! Alejandro
Camaño, agent for Adrían Peralta, has returned large part of the
€750,000 transfer fee which Mallorca paid out for the midfielder last
season saying he was sorry that the player had not been successful! (23.08.06)
|
| The second division is to include a sponsors'
name for the next three seasons after the LFP agreed a deal with one of the
countries largest banks, BBVA. (17.08.06) |
| The three highest paid footballers in the world
all play in Spain, according to a recent study of World Cup participants.
Ronaldinho tops the list with earnings of €23 million, followed by Beckham
with €18 million and Ronaldo with €17.4 million. (11.08.06)
|
| Second division B side Badajoz were the only club
in the top three divisions not to meet the 31 July payment deadline, and they
will be relegated to the third division. Had they failed to continue their
place would have been taken by Toledo, but a contribution by the president of
city neighbours Cerro de Reyes ensured their survival and enabled his side (who
just missed out on the play-offs) to be promoted instead. (06.08.06)
|
| Under a court ruling, Barcelona will have to call
presidential elections this summer rather than next. Joan Laporte fixed a date
at the beginning of September, but before he and his board resigned to stand
again, they announced a net profit for the year 2005/6 of €16.8 million.
At the same time bank debts were reduced from €92.2 million to €68.5
million, and turnover rose to €259 million, doubling the figure from three
years ago. (03.08.06) |
| Ex Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz is the
surprise new owner of Málaga after a bid of around €6 million was
accepted by outgoing president Serafín Roldán. The club were
apparently close to agreeing terms with another investor before Sanz stepped in
with a better offer. Sanz's son Fernando, centre back and team captain last
season, will move upstairs to take over as club president. (02.08.06)
|
| Mallorca's Son Moix ground will be known as the
ONO stadium from now on after the telecommunications company agreed to pay the
club €3.5 million over the next four years. (01.08.06) |
| With just three days to go to the payment
deadline, Alavés and Sporting Gijón have settled outstanding
debts with their players. Clubs who are not up to date at the end of July will
be automatically relegated. (28.07.06) |
| Sporting Gijón's future is safe for now
after the regional government of Asturias agreed to put up a guarantee for a
€3.6 million bank loan. The club's administrators say that the money will
go to paying off part of their outstanding debts rather than sign new players
though. (22.07.06) |
| The RFEF and the LFP buried the hatchet today
after 18 months of infighting. Presidents of the two bodies met with sports
minister Jaime Lissavetsky and signed a ten year agreement which will (amongst
other things) inject €5.8 million into lower division football, make
referees fully professional over the next three years and allow clubs to sell
on their places in the league. (19.07.06) |
| The local town council have agreed to take over a
debt of €300,000 which newly promoted second division B side Granada owe
to the Salary Guarantee Fund (FOGASA) re indemnity payments to employees,
thereby enabling them to concentrate on their attempt to return to the big time
without too many financial concerns. (13.07.06) |
| Real Madrid's Ramón Calderón is not
the only new first division president this summer. There are new faces at Betis
(Pepe León), Zaragoza (Eduardo Bandrés), Celta (Carlos
Mouriño) and Racing Santander (Francisco Pernía). There could be
more as well, with Nàstic's Josep María Andreu announcing he will
be handing over the reins and Barcelona's Joan Laporta facing elections.
(10.07.06) |
| Delays in the construction of the new stadium
could cost Espanyol between €8 and 9 million, according to the pressure
group "Espanyol 3.0". The group point ed out that the club's budget projections
were forecasting income of that magnitude in the 2007-8 season, although the
latest reports are that the building works will not be ready until some time
later. (06.07.06) |
| The relegation of Cádiz to the second
division doesn't seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of the fans. The demand
for season tickets has been exceptional this summer, and the club expects to be
putting up "sold out" notices at the 20,000 capacity ground before too long.
(03.07.06) |
