Court of Justice of the EU: Barça, Bilbao, Osasuna, and Real's tax schemes qualify as State aid

"The Court of Justice of the European Union annuls the judgment of the General Court by which the decision classifying as State aid the tax scheme of four Spanish professional football clubs (Athletic Club Bilbao, FC Barcelona, Club Atletico Osasuna, and Real Madrid CF) had been annulled (therefore, the Court of Justice annulled the decision which annulled the classification of the tax scheme as State aid, thus reinstating the latter classification). The action which had been brought by FC Barcelona against that decision is definitively rejected," announced the European court based in Luxembourg, on 04/03/2021.

"A Spanish law adopted in 1990 obliged all Spanish professional sports clubs to convert into public limited sports companies, with the exception of professional sports clubs that had achieved a positive financial balance during the financial years preceding adoption of that law. FC Barcelona (FCB), and three other professional football clubs which came within that exception - Club Atlético Osasuna (Pamplona), Athletic Club (Bilbao), and the Real Madrid CF (Madrid) - had thus…