EU Court: unlawful state aid for Real and Barca

The EU Court of Justice, annulling a decision of the EU Court, gave reason to the European Commission which had qualified as State aid the tax regime of four Spanish professional football clubs, namely Fútbol Club Barcelona, ​​Atlético Osasuna in Pamplona ), Athletic de Bilbao and Real Madrid. "The appeal that was brought against this decision by Fútbol Club Barcelona is definitively rejected", explains the EU Court. The EU Court, in 2019, had annulled the Commission's decision but today the Court ruled that the judges made an "error of law" and therefore the Brussels decision remains valid. Brussels had established in 2016 that these clubs, for about 20 years, had paid taxes and were considered non-profit sports clubs by virtue of a law of 1990. A treatment considered absolutely unjustified and contrary to the internal market, and had therefore asked the Spanish government to recover what it considers illegal state aid.