Real Madrid fined £16million after EU finds club guilty of receiving illegal state funding

REAL MADRID have been fined almost £16million pounds after an EU commission ruled that they had received illegal state funding.

The Spanish government has been instructed by the European Commission to recover €18.4million, within the next four months.

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It was discovered that the funds had been transferred by the city council during the tenure of then-mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón between 2003 and 2001.

Spanish fooball news-site Futbol.as reports that “the European Commission considers that Spain has unlawfully granted State aid to Real Madrid in breach of Article 108, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on European Union”.

The ruling was contained in a 31-page document that detailed a number of state funding, or tax benefits that the EU has deemed to be ‘illegal’.

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The full report was revealed from the EC Competitions Committee president Margarethe Vestager, who said that clubs using taxpayer’s money created “unfair competition”.

Fellow Spanish sides Valencia, Hercules and Elche have also been instructed to pay back money it was given by Spanish banks.