LaLiga: Barça, Real and 5 other clubs ordered by the European Commission to repay money

European Commission concluded seven Spanish clubs (LaLiga) to pay back "illegal state aid" which gave them "an unfair advantage", on 04/07/2016. FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Athletic Club Bilbao, CA Osasuna, Valencia CF, Hércules de Alicante CF, and Elche CF will have to repay millions of euros of state aid.

"Using tax payers' money to finance professional football clubs can create unfair competition. Professional football is a commercial activity with significant money involved and public money must comply with fair competition rules. The subsidies we investigated in these cases did not," said Margrethe Vestager (DEN), the European Commissioner responsible for competition policy, on 04/07/2016.

In total, a sum of between €50m and €70m should be repaid to the Spanish State.

Three investigations by the European Commission

• The first investigation concerns FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Athletic Club Bilbao, and CA Osasuna, in particular, for having wrongly regarded themselves as nonprofit organisations…