It is often argued that La Liga is stronger than the Premier League, although advocates of new ownership models are unstinting in their praise of the Bundesliga. However, Spain’s economic crisis has had a profound effect on the nation’s football.
30 players have left La Liga this summer, believed to be a record number. Against this, there are real signs of progress in getting football’s finances in order and reducing the legacy of debt. In the past this was often treated as a fact of life with regional or local governments providing hidden subsidies.
It is often argued that La Liga is stronger than the Premier League, although advocates of new ownership models are unstinting in their praise of the Bundesliga. However, Spain’s economic crisis has had a profound effect on the nation’s football.
30 players have left La Liga this summer, believed to be a record number. Against this, there are real signs of progress in getting football’s finances in order and reducing the legacy of debt. In the past this was often treated as a fact of life with regional or local governments providing hidden subsidies.
Weighed down by debts that stand at almost €4bn for the clubs in the first and second league, teams have been forced to sell players, mothball plans for new arenas and slash spending. Despite their recent efforts, 18 top teams have gone into administration over the past four years, including famous names such as Deportivo La Coruña and Real Betis Sevilla.
Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish football league, likens recent events to Spain’s notorious housing boom: ‘The sector became inflated. It grew through debts. Then the crisis brought an end to all this money – and strangled us economically.’
As far as housing is concerned, a number of bargains are now on the market with even whole small villages being offered for sale. There has, of course, been no fire sale of football clubs. However, debts that amounted to €200m in 2010-11 were down to €40m last season and it is hoped that next year they will be down to €10m.
Mr Tebas was elected to office only this year, with a mandate to put La Liga on a sounder economic footing. Under a tough new regime, clubs are being forced to reduce their debt load, pay off the hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes and refrain from overspending for star players. The results have been striking, but painful for supporters: Atlético de Madrid had to sell a star striker, Radamel Falcao, to Monaco for €60m; Valencia CF sold Roberto Soldado to Tottenham Hotspur for €30m; while Sevilla FC lost two leading players, Jesús Navas and Álvaro Negredo, to Manchester City for a total of €45m.
Malaga have come to symbolise the excesses of Spanish club football like few others. At one point last season, the cash-strapped club was unable to pay players’ salaries. They are one of the first clubs to be penalised under Uefa financial fair play rules. The European football association found Málaga’s finances were in such disarray that it banned the club from European competitions this year.
Málaga lost their highly regarded coach along with much of their finest talent on the pitch. The team’s best player, 21-year-old Isco, was snapped up by Real Madrid for €30m, while team mates departed for France, Italy, Portugal and Greece.
An underlying structural issue in Spanish football is always the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid. They account for around 60 per cent of the revenue of the top twenty clubs, a far higher proportion than in other European leagues. It is hoped that a collective television agreement will be concluded in the next few years and that should produce a more equitable distribution of revenues, but it is unlikely to solve the problem.
Of course, in many ways it is the clashes between these two great teams that give La Liga its special edge. It is more than a sporting rivalry, but has deep political and cultural connotations. It echoes the civil war with Barcelona’s republican identification and Madrid’s association with the Franco regime. Barcelona is in Catalonia, where some politicians have separatist aspirations, while Madrid is the metropolitan capital.
When I was in Madrid last years I was shown some bullet scars from the civil war on university buildings. Football is never just about money, especially in Spain.