‘The property deal that helped Real Madrid pay for players
such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham is being
looked into by the EU, who may order the club to repay some
of the money.
‘Real's president, Florentino Perez, sold their 15-hectare
training ground in the heart of fashionable Madrid to city
and regional authorities for a staggering £290m in 2001. The
sale helped clear the club's £177m debt, and left enough to
pay unprecedented sums for Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo and
Beckham. But the European Commission suspects the price was
over-inflated and included a hidden public subsidy for what
has been seen since the Franco era as Spain's official state-
sponsored club.
‘"We believe Madrid's regional authorities may have
overpaid," Tilman Luder, the EU's competition spokesman,
said yesterday in Brussels. He warned that the club may have
to pay back some money if the price exceeded the market
value.
‘"We have sent a questionnaire to the Spanish government: to
find out why they bought this land, at what price, and if
they can prove it was at the market price. We suspect that
the purchase price was influenced by the fact that this
property had been reclassified, which increased its value,"
Luder said. If doubts remain, the EU may launch a formal
investigation.
‘Madrid's city authorities and regional government
redesignated the 15-hectare green site for commercial use.
Property developers pounced on what became the most valuable
piece of land in Spain on the country's most expensive
street, Castellana Avenue, and the heart of the capital's
financial district.