FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will be forced to pay back millions of euros in illegal State aid after the EU’s highest court ruled Brussels was right to declare that beneficial tax arrangements they enjoyed for a quarter of a century were illegal, reported The Financial Times.
The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) upholds previous rulings by the European Commission and comes as Barcelona, the world’s highest-earning football club, is enduring one of the biggest crises in its history.
This week police arrested the club’s former president, its current chief executive and its general counsel, in connection with a separate legal case ahead of a vote on Sunday, March 7, to decide its next president. Barcelona, which recorded a loss of €100 million last year, also has to contend with a debt pile of more than €1 billion.
In 2016 Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief supremo, ordered four Spanish football clubs to pay back tens of millions of euros received since the 1990s in the form of sweetheart property deals, tax breaks, and soft loans.
FC Barcelona subsequently contested the decision before the General Court, the EU’s second-highest tribunal, which annulled the Commission’s judgment. However, after a final appeal from Brussels the ECJ ruled in favor of the EU.
In its decision on Thursday — which is final — the ECJ deemed the tax scheme “liable to favour clubs operating as non-profit entities over clubs operating in the form of public limited sports companies”, holding that it could therefore qualify as illegal state aid under EU rules.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
T-Mobile’s Acquisition of Ka’ena Corporation Receives FCC Approval
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
UK Regulator Announces Two New Senior Executive Appointments
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
Paramount Global and Skydance Media Near Merger Deal, Eyeing CEO Change
Apr 26, 2024 by
CPI
BHP Unveils £31bn Mining Megamerger Proposal with Anglo American
Apr 25, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
ByteDance Prefers Shutdown Over Sale of TikTok Amid US Ban Threats
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI