SPAIN’S government has been found guilty of illegally funding seven football clubs – including Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The European commission has ruled Spain provided state-funding to help the clubs gain an unfair advantage over their rivals.
![Real Madrid train at the training ground that was part funded by a reduced land deal with the Spanish government](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nintchdbpict000060400468-e1467628971926.jpg?w=960&strip=all)
And in one instance, Real Madrid were able to buy land to build a new training ground for £15million LESS than market value.
The European Commission launched an investigation into how clubs were benefiting unfairly from tax and finance support from the government.
And they found a long list of tax, land and loan issues that were deemed to be against EU regulations on state funding.
The seven clubs – Barcelona, Real, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Osasuna, Elche and Hercules – have all now been ordered to repay cash which it is ruled has given them an unfair advantage over their rivals.
![David Beckham was unveiled as a Real Madrid player at the club's training ground](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nintchdbpict000003157008.jpg?w=960&strip=all)
![Both Valencia and Barcelona were able to benefit by illegal state sector funding from the Spanish government](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nintchdbpict000228648080-e1467631108615.jpg?w=960&strip=all)
In complete ignorance for usual rules, despite being registered as limited companies Real, Barca, Bilbao and Osasuna were paying the tax rate of non-profit organisations for over 20 years.
That meant they saved fortunes on tax demands going back until 1990.
All four clubs have been ordered to repay the moneys owed.
A second investigation centred on the price Real were charged to buy land from the government in 1998, as they moved to a state of the art new training ground on the outskirts of the city.
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The commission found the land deal was undervalued by an astonishing £15million which now needs to be paid back.
And a third investigation looked into how a state-owned bank illegally stood as guarantors for loans which helped Valencia, Elche and Hercules secure funding at a discounted rate.
All three were cash-strapped at the time, but because the taxpayer agreed to guarantee the loans the clubs secured more favourable terms.
The trio now have to pay back the money saved – which in Valencia’s case is a whopping £17million.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, commented: “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.”
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