UEFA reckons Barcelona and Real Madrid should consider the sale of future revenue streams as debt in their financial records.
The two Clasico rivals could find themselves in hot water over the activation of financial ‘levers’.
Barcelona and Real Madrid began making such deals in 2021 after La Liga ruled that activating these ‘levers’ would count as revenue under their own financial regulations.
But this week Barca were reprimanded by UEFA and fined €500,000 for falsely reporting ‘profits from the disposal of intangible assets (other than player transfers) that are not relevant income under the regulations’.
La Blaugrana came under scrutiny last summer after agreeing to sell merchandising and TV rights and their own in-house production studio to receive upfront cash injections, giving them more freedom to operate in the transfer market.
Their €266 million deal with investment group Sixth Street was deemed an illegal source of income for Financial Fair Play (FFP) considerations.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have questioned the reported €122 million in ‘other operating costs’ in their latest financial documents, particularly under the microscope, on their deal with private equity group Providence.
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The Daily TelegraphUEFA, which led an investigation into Los Blancos’ financial reporting, revealed that it had informed both La Liga clubs that any future sales of future revenue streams must be reduced as debt, not income.
Under the new FFP rules, clubs will be assessed in a calendar year and spending will be limited to a fixed percentage of revenue, falling from 90% in the first year to 70% in the next two.
During such a three-year period, clubs are only allowed to take losses of up to €60 million, which is now tricky for Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Barcelona may have to sell players punished by Uefa for last year’s financial records – they were hoping to raise another €400m this year by selling on additional revenue streams. Barca were recently banned from next season’s Champions League due to the Negreira case, and UEFA ultimately decided against punishment for the time being.
By deducting their own €360m deal with Sixth Street, Real Madrid would have posted an operating loss of €293m last year by UEFA’s standards.
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