Bummed by the strike? We've got you covered Part#1

Hey Forzafutbolers!

Are you bummed by the La Liga strike like millions of fans around the world? We hear you. While we cant get the LFP and AFE (players union) to end the strike any sooner, we can help you get your La Liga fix. In the first part of our series "Bummed by the La Liga strike" we give you a choice selection of some of our most downloaded of the recent past.

The Best of the Forzafutbol podcasts

1. Seville Derby - Adam (Ooh Betis) & Aaron (Monchi's men) talk up the Andalucian derby, its a fun pod.
2. Eduardo Alvarez of ESPNSoccernet talks about all things Spanish football and Copa America
3. Around La Liga - Elisa & Ravi set the table for a new season. The new arrivals like Bielsa, Alexis, success of the Spain U19 and U21 at the Euros and a lot more.
4. The Copa America wrap up. Forzafutbol's tournament awards for the good and the brickbats for the not so good. Special guest Rob (@santapelota) & Chris (@chris_elastico)
   
5. Jose Antonio, a labour lawyer from Madrid breaks down the financial mess in Spanish football, the complexities of Ley Concursal and SADs

For more podcasts please find them:

1. On iTunes "forzafutbol podcast" OR
   
2. Click on our podcast gadget on the right sidebar on our website OR
   
3. Go here

La Liga Preview: 2 giants and 18 dwarfs

<< Will the colours of the ribbons on the trophy change this year?

The Preamble

Seems like the 2010-11 it was yesterday when FC Barcelona drew 1-1 at Levante to seal a 3rd consecutive Spanish league title. Here we are just a few weeks away from the kick-off of a new season, the 81st edition of the Spanish Primera División aka 'La Liga'. This is a very important year for this league. There are a lot of clubs in financial distress. The players union is threatening to go on strike over unpaid wages. There is simmering discontent over the lopsided TV deal heavily loaded in favour of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It promises to be another roller coaster season full of twists and turns along with some fabulous football.

For a league where only two teams are in the title race from match day 1 (as the title suggests), there is more drama and excitement around the title race than one would expect. It is provided by the encounters between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the vicious and cynical media machines spewing bile from both sides and the petulant fans from both sides pouring gasoline on a burning stove. And if you thought you had enough of the 'Clasico's last season, the season starts with two more of them, the two legs of the Spanish Super Cup.

With that backdrop, let me set you up for the season with a quick preview.

The Offseason

This offseason has been dominated by three major themes.

1. Protracted transfer sagas of Alexis Sanchez, Kun Aguero, Neymar and Cesc Fabregas.
2. Project Málaga
3. Financial trouble at the majority of the clubs
   

Barcelona has signed Chilean forward/winger Alexis Sanchez from Udinese after almost two months of negotiations. It appeared like Real Madrid would land Kun Aguero after he forced his way out Atlético Madrid but he ended up at Manchester City. Real Madrid pursued Neymar with a lot of determination but the Brazilian phenom looks set to continue at Santos at least until the January transfer window. The Cesc Fabregas saga has been running for three summers now and it might finally be over this summer. Barcelona is using brinkmanship tactics to get the player for as less as possible and Arsenal hasn’t budged so far. But according to various media outlets, the deal might be close.

Málaga have been the most active La Liga team in the transfer market. They have made some intelligent signings in Toulalan, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Mathijsen, Nacho Monreal, Isco Alarcon, and Joaquin and topped their summer by signing Santi Cazorla from Villarreal. They pursued him all summer as their star-signing. They have strengthened their team by spending about 60million euros on 8 players. Coach Manuel Pellegrini has one of the deepest squads in La Liga heading into the season.

While Málaga has been on a spending spree thanks to the financial muscle of their new owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, a lot of the other teams are in deep financial strife. Newly promoted Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis are in administration. So are Racing and Zaragoza. The rest aren’t much better off either. Teams like Villarreal and Atlético have had to sell one of their stars to raise money for new signings. The financial crisis has a debilitating on a lot of teams in La Liga as well as the Liga Adelante (2^nd division). Spain has by far the most clubs in administration (in the top two divisions) than any other league in Europe. However, I do expect teams to make a few more signings using some creative deals involving players, deferred payments etc.

The Season

Approximately two weeks away from the season kick-off on Aug 20/21, the season promises to be a very good one. The two-legged Super Cup between Barcelona and Real Madrid will raise the curtain on the season, rather fittingly. There is little doubt that one of these two giants will be the eventual league champion.

Real Madrid has added the talented midfielder Nuri Sahin and the Portuguese international left-back Fabio Coentrão to a strong squad. They are still in the market for a striker and despite the setbacks of not landing Kun Aguero or Neymar, have the depth to compete in all the three competitions. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been in mid-season form in the preseason. Barcelona have signed only Alexis Sanchez so far but with the Cesc deal looming, Pep Guardiola’s side looks set for the season with a very strong squad. They can afford the luxury of dipping into their talent-laden youth system if needed. Moreover, a team with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and Co doesn’t need a lot of changes to click.

Málaga is primed for success with a talented side. The expectations are high in the Andalucian city and some experts are even predicting them to finish in the Champions Leagues spots by the end of the season. I expect them to struggle early while they gel as a team. But by about November they could turn it on. They start the season with a bang hosting Barcelona in Week#1. That game promises to be a cracker.

Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal look very solid. Valencia has made some shrewd signings this season in Adil Ramis, Danny Parejo and looks like they might be close to securing a loan for Spanish U20 captain Sergio Canales. Sevilla has a new coach in Marcelino Garcia, the ex-Racing coach. They have been relatively quiet in the transfer market so far, but we are almost a month away from the transfer deadline. Villarreal have made some good signings like Cristian Zapata to shore-up their defence where they were vulnerable last season. They have lost Santi Cazorla to Málaga, a transaction that has angered and saddened the Madrigal faithful at Vila-real. But they managed to retain rest of their stars in Borja Valero, Beppe Rossi and Nilmar.

Athletic club of Bilbao have a new manager, the excellent ‘El Loco’(the crazy) Marcelo Bielsa. The summer saw him linked to Real Sociedad as well as Sevilla. The new president of Athletic, Jose Urrutia had an agreement with Bielsa to make him the coach in case he won the Athletic’s presidential elections. The Basques-only policy means they don’t have a huge talent pool to choose from. They have added the excellent creative midfielder Ander Herrera to a talented squad that includes, Fernando Llorente, Javi Martinez and Iker Munaín. Depth of squad could be an issue for them, especially if they go deep in all three competitions. Everyone that follows La Liga will watch Mr. Bielsa and his team very closely.

Atlético Madrid, where there is never a dull day at office looks weakened with the departure of Kun Aguero. At the moment they haven’t signed a replacement yet. They have signed striker and Golden ball winner at Euro U21 Adrian Lopez. New coach Gregorio Manzano has a huge task at hand to stabilize this inherently unstable team.

Teams like Getafe, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, Zaragoza, the newly promoted Granada, Mallorca, Racing Santander, Sporting Gijon, Espanyol and Levante haven’t done much in the transfer market. The loan deal for Real Madrid’s prospect Pablo Sarabia to Getafe is the most notable of them all.

Predictions

Champion: Real Madrid. The race between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be closer than ever but I think Mourinho’s team will have the last laugh and will edge out the Catalans.

Copa Del Rey: Barcelona

Champions League: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Málaga. Yes, I am very
optimistic about the Málaga revolution and they will edge Villarreal for the 4^th spot.

Europa League: Villarreal, Sevilla, Athletic

Relegation: Rayo Vallecano, Racing Santander and Granada or Levante. Rayo is an absolute mess right now with players striking over unpaid wages. Racing has been left high and dry by Ali Sayeed and there is a vacuum of leadership there. Levante have lost their coach Luis Garcia (to Getafe) and sold their top-scorer Felipe Caicedo and haven’t replaced him.

PS: This article was written before the Super Cup was played.

Kaka & Cristiano Rolando pledged as collateral?

Some of you might have heard of this new item already on financial papers. Marca and As didnt seem to cover it in detail, as one would have expected. The story goes something like this.

About 2 years ago, Real Madrid took a loan of €76 million from Caja Madrid one of the Banks of Bankia group to finance the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Brazilan Ricardo Kaka together for about €160 million euros. The financial situation in Spain has only worsened since then leading to the bankruptcy of many Spanish banks. This past week, crisis has finally hit home with Bankia Group.

Bankia asked for help from European Central Bank (ECB) for an urgent injection of funds to keep the bank's Credit to reserve ration above the safe thresholds. As ECB is not a money printing machine that queues up orders and delivers freshly printed euro bills, they asked Bankia for a guarantee. Bankia submitted the loan of €76mil that they gave to Real Madrid as the collateral.

What does this mean? This means if Bankia fail to repay ECB and were to go bankrupt(unlikely), Real Madrid is liable to repay the loan. In the hypothetical case of Real Madrid not being able to repay the loan or meet the conditions of ECB, we end up with a weird situation on hand. Kaka & Cristiano Ronaldo could be 'seized' by the ECB just like a house or property. But obviously we are talking people, who probably have no idea of what this means or why this is happening.

Let us ignore the worst case scenario, because the chances of it happening are very slim. What really worries me about this is are the following:

1. How many other clubs are in similar situation with other banks?
2. What will happen if the economy in Spain continues to deteriorate and more banks get into precarious position vis-a-vis their CRR and need the support of ECB to survive?

For #1 I am sure there are more such cases, but may not be of the same magnitude but teams like Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia etc. have huge debts on their books and some if not most of it must be from banks. El Pais reports that Real Madrid took a similar loan from Banco Santander to make the two deals. This means Real Madrid signed the two players worth 160 million euros with almost zero money from their pocket. The report also goes on to add that Real Madrid is supposed to pay the principal in three installments in June 2012,2013 & 2014.

It is evident that Spanish football clubs are deeply entwined with banks, while this is not a novelty by any means and it is the case in other countries with the top level football leagues, the level of leverage seems to be very high and that is never a good news even when the economy is healthy.

As for #2, this could get real ugly very quickly if the situation worsens. As more banks declare bankruptcy and/or seek the protection of ECB or Banco de España, more clubs and in turn players might end up on the books of these central banks as collateral, assets etc..

All this left me wondering: Why do banks lend huge sums of money to clubs for signing new players?
Agreed that Real Madrid and Barcelona generate a lot of revenue, but still financing deals like this where the club is not even putting 20-30% of the total worth of the deal? RM's revenues this year were ~ 450million(not profit, just revenue), so 2 years ago let us assume that is in the 300+ range. This means Caja Madrid and Banco Santander approved a total of about 160 million in loans which is almost 50% of the revenue generated by the loanee here. I wonder what will happen should Banco Santander need funds and they put their loan with RM as collateral. I am not a financial expert by any means but this seems like a recipe for disaster.

I just hope that this was a thing of the past and banks dont do it anymore.

Going on a tangent here, in the same week we saw the transfer of Santi Cazorla, an iconic player at Villarreal to Málaga for about 20 million euros in cash. There was a lot of disappointment and anger among the fans of the Yellow Submarine. The club president reasoned that this sale is to keep generate enough funds to keep the rest of the stars of the team and be on a good financial footing in the next few years when he expects the financial troubles in Spain and La Liga even worse.

If more presidents of football clubs in Spain think on the lines as Mr. Roig does, we might be able to avoid situations like this in the future.

To reiterate, none of big banks of Spain are in bankruptcy trouble, however they could struggle to keep the CRR above the thresholds if the economic situation deteriorates further.

Forza Futbol 149: A Financial Mess

On today's episode of Forza Futbol, Elisa and Ravi are joined by resident legal correspondent Jose Antonio and they talk about SAD's, La Ley Concursal which relegates administration and bankruptcy for clubs in Spain, clubs going through that process as we speak and what it means for La Liga, plus they talk about the general legal and financial climate in Spain.

   

   
   
   

  

Rayo Vallecano Promoted

With three points this weekend, Rayo Vallecano, that working-class club from the Madrid neighborhood of Vallecas have been promoted to the first division for the first time since the 2002-2003 season. It has been a long road for supporters and players of this very proud club. The club was in financial ruin after the failure of many of the companies in the Nueva Romasa Group and its principle owners the Ruis-Mateos family. Players weren´t being paid and creditors were looming, when a savior appeared: Raúl Santiago Martín Presa. He paid his players and the money started flowing to creditors. Everything seemed out of a fairy-tale.

Martin-Presa made his money in printing, holds important patents, is on the board of at least eight companies and at 36 years old would be one of the youngest people ever to direct a first division club in Spain. He bought 98.6% of the club´s, assuming about 40 million euros of debt, but according to certain reports, this is no white knight appearing out of nowhere to save the club from oblivion.

According to Juan Luis Galiacho, in the afore-mentioned link, the new owner has a cloudy financial history. He has not submitted balance sheets nor income statements in the commercial registry for more than three years, and even then, in the last fiscal year recorded (2008), Martin-Presa´s companies were over a million euros in debt.

Granted, many companies in Spain are failing, where unemployment is in some segments up to and above 40% of the population, but it does seem odd that the Ruis-Mateos family would cede all but 2 or so percent of the family holdings in the club to an inexperienced business-man with a spotty catalog. Are his qualifications merely that he has been a socio of the franjiroja for ten years?

I make no judgments yet, other than the fact that La Liga needs qualified investors for the benefit not only of its smallest clubs but for the health of the league in general. It´s a great day to welcome the fourth Madrid club to play in next year´s La Liga schedule, but I´d be wary if I were a Rayo Vallecano supporter.

La Liga Strike Averted

According to Jose Ramon de la Morena, on his daily program El Larguero on Cadena Ser, there has been an accord reached between General Secretary in charge of Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky and representatives from the LFP and the League office to lift the proposed strike for this weekend as was originally proposed.

That is to say, if Judge Purificacion Puyol rules to suspend the next round of games, the league has called to member clubs supporting the strike to forgo the work-stoppage. The clubs, looking for negotiating leverage with media companies and asking for a higher percentage of money from the quinielas or betting pools, were told by league president Javier Tebas that they would look to make up the difference by other means.

It looks like worst case scenario, when this next round would have been forced to be played three weeks after the end of the season, has been averted and the strike is over until the next time we see greed rear its ugly head again.

La Liga Locked-out

There has been frequent talk recently about a work stoppage before the next round of games in the Spanish League, brought about not by any mismanaged relationship between owners and players like is so often commonplace here in the United States, but because the clubs are at loggerheads with the not only the RFEF, the Spanish Football Federation, but with the Spanish government in general.

There is a tentative deal in place, backed by the majority of Spanish clubs, to share revenue on a limited basis after bargaining television rights collectively. The problem is, that by governmental policy, at least one match a week needs to be put on free-air television. The clubs are balking at that, they would like the same pay-for-play model that is in place in both England and Italy, they can get more money with all games being pay-per-view, and the government is reluctant to give in.

To make matters worse, a splinter group led by Villarreal supremo Fernando Roig and Sevilla President Jose Maria del Nido, joined by Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Real Zaragoza and Real Sociedad, coincidently some of the same group that opposed the Real Madrid/Barcelona plan in the first place, have broken off and have refused to participate in a filed a legal challenge aimed at stopping the professional football league (LFP) from postponing the round of matches.

As it stands, it looks like the round will be postponed until mid-June, causing untold havok and for what? To ensure that one game a week stays on free-television? That's not why Roig and his group are protesting. They want to torpedo the accord, and while I may agree with it, I think the league needs a fairer distribution of wealth, this isn't the time nor place to think of work-stoppages. “It is shameful that the Spanish league has the most unfair revenue sharing in Europe,” said Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido. “(But) it is not the moment, politically speaking, to make demands and, besides, it shouldn’t always be the fans that pay the consequences.”

Too many people make a living from the ancillary economies that surround football. Too much money will be lost in an economy that desperately needs relief, not chaos. As usual, the little people will suffer as the rich fight a battle of attrition with the government. Fight the fight after the championship ends. Resolve the media battle then. Leave the season alone.

Revenue Sharing: a Rebuttal

A few weeks ago we sent out some fliers regarding the revenue sharing proposal that we have attached ourselves to, this idea of a Fair and Just League (even though the original players may have disappeared off the face of the Earth mind you). For those that weren't here then, we have long championed a less skewed distribution of television revenue that doesn't look like this scale below. The red bars signify the distribution of collective television money that the duopoly have accepted. The blue is what certain clubs, Espanyol, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao for instance, have proposed. Well, we got a very interesting note from our listener Conner on our podcast site and I decided to quote it directly here on the blog:

Conner: I’m a long time listener to the podcast, and you asked on the 3/7/11 podcast what listeners think about your revenue sharing proposal.


Well, I respectfully disagree with you. I believe your sentiment is due to being a fan of a smaller club. I don’t want to beat you up for that or anything, but I think the status of being a small club fan may slant your perspective.


La Liga is not comparable to American sports leagues. There, the best teams in a particular sport are all in the same league. For example, the best 32 American football teams in world are in the NFL. Thus, a discussion of revenue sharing makes sense there. Revenue sharing allows the best 32 teams to compete with each other. It’s the same story for baseball, basketball, and hockey.


However, when we talk soccer, the best teams in the world are spread out among several European domestic leagues. The point is that the peers of the major clubs are not the small clubs of their respective domestic leagues, but rather the other major European clubs. Thus, if you were to discuss revenue sharing for the purposes of being fair or competitive, you would need to discuss sharing revenue only among the big European clubs, which is not necessary.


I can appreciate the sentimentality to want to see a small club succeed. It takes much hardcore courage to support a small club such as Espanyol, but what you are proposing would impede the two major Spanish Clubs from competing with their peers, of which Espanyol is not one.


Please don’t take that in a snide tone; I am simply pointing out that it is important to recognize that Real Madrid and Barca carry the banner for Spain, and to hamper this by taking away their revenue to share with clubs like Espanyol would ultimately leave the league without a team that could compete with the best European teams, which in turn would harm all Spanish clubs, including the small ones, like Espanyol, in the top flight.


Your sentiment is noble, but sharing something like TV revenue is not going to benefit the smaller clubs enough to build them into clubs capable of competing with the likes of Manchester United. Such revenue sharing could, on the other hand, take a Real Madrid out of competitiveness in the Champions League.


So, I hear you Armando, but the important thing is to first realize which clubs represent the true peers of Real Madrid and Barcelona. It’s Inter Milan and Manchester United, not Malaga and Valencia. The second thing is do nothing to hamper the ability of your league’s flagships to compete against their peers (including revenue sharing) so that the league can put its best foot forth.


On a secondary note, both Real Madrid and Barcelona are fan owned. It’s not like a Russian billionaire is behind the disparity in the revenue of big clubs and small clubs. The disparity is driven by years of direct fan support. Why punish the majority of fans for simply supporting their clubs by giving their earned revenue away to other teams that simply have not done this. I mean, not to get touchy, but there’s a historical political reason why Espanyol doesn’t have the socios that Barcelona has. I believe you also damage the legacy of clubs, one of the things that make La Liga clubs great (all the clubs are more than a club), by taking away the advantages a particular club enjoys precisely because of its historical positioning.


Otherwise, love the podcast. I do wish you guys didn’t rip the kid for complaining about the “uhs.” I refrain from judging you guys based on that because I don’t know if he was rude or what. I do wish you guys spoke a little slower to avoid them, but I’ve learned to not get distracted by them and I rather you uh away than not produce the podcasts. Keep up the good work!

I wholeheartedly, respectfully disagree. We are not talking about revenue sharing to the extent of what the NFL does. That would be counter-productive. We are talking about RETURNING the league to a slightly MORE equitable situation, similar to that which existed just a decade ago. The financial disparity between the top two and the rest is a RECENT phenomenon driven, not by fan support, but by TELEVISION REVENUE.

Plus, does a more equitable league structure impede a Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal from competing in European places? No. German clubs have a far more equitable structure than Spain and they're competing. In the long run, even the big-clubs in Italy have seen the light. After so many years of negotiating individual television contracts they recently moved to a collective bargaining of rights.  Would similar arrangement impede Barcelona or Real Madrid from competing in Europe? No. Any losses in short-term revenues would be made up in the new worth of the International package as a whole.

Anyway, having a stronger league is in the best interests of the big two especially if they want to play against strong opposition in Europe. It is no surprise that Real Madrid and Barcelona have bowed out of the Champions League over the last five years when faced with opposition from more competitive leagues.

As for why Barcelona has been able to maximize their presence in Catalunya over Espanyol? That's a loaded question. The fashionable answer is that one has defined itself by regional politics and the other has been ostracized because of a "perceived" association to the central government. The reality is much more complicated, but you won't hear it from any of the duopoly's propaganda machine.

Oh and that idiot kid? He's been hounding us for months, being rude, disrespectful, and inappropriate. You came to our site, listened to our podcast and gave your informed opinion. That's fine. It's constructive, but if you come to insult me in my home, then I reserve my right to absolutely rip you.

For you though, a big thanks for contributing and being a loyal listener.

Racing Santander: A House of Cards?

Try this link. It seems to be another in a line of wikileaks type whistle-blower sites but the difference here is that the prime subject of their investigations is Western Gulf Advisory or WGA, which is important here because WGA's head honcho is Ahsan Ali Syed who owns Racing Santander.

According to wikifrauds, WGA has been perpetrating a scam where prospective clients take out huge loans, they pay huge fees up front, and the loans never materialize. If a refund comes through it is often because WGA has moved onto the next client. It's a sucker's game, but it is in their estimation that over 40 million dollars have been scammed from companies in Australia and New Zealand. Reports are, mainly coming from Australian newspapers, that the local authorities are finishing up an investigation and about to bring up charges on the new head of Racing Santander who may have used part of these Ponzi-scheme type investments to buy into Racing.

The Australian authorities have countered that there is no investigation and no indictments are pending. Ahsan Ali Syed is condemning the reports as false, as expected, but is anyone worried that this could all fall apart so quickly? The Cantabrian local government apparently isn't. Marca had an interview with Cantabrian President Miguel Angel Revilla who supported Ali-Syed  whole-heartedly: "Ali Syed, to date, has asked for nothing and has only brought money, which in that case I hope many more like Ali Syed come to Cantabria. We continue to be very much with Ali-Syed. He has invested 7 million euros and he is complying which is also important." Really? Aren't they at all concerned where the money came from? Apparently Blackburn Rovers were concerned about it enough that they did not approve his bid last year to buy the English club.

I hope it's true that everything is on the up and up. The Spanish league deserves good, honest foreign investment, but it seems that instead we get this: a house of very unstable cards, supported with the same sort of funding that blew-up the world-wide financial markets in 2008 in the first place. I'd like to think this will all blow away, but I'm not hopeful.

Footballer´s in Financial Crisis

Everyone wants to be a footballer, right? The glamor, the fame, the idea of getting paid to play around for a couple of hours a night, and no one has to mention the women. It must be the ideal life, but is it?

In a recent report in the Diario de Navarra, quoting Hans Schips of Schips Finanz, a German financial consulting firm, more than half of players playing in European Leagues end their career in financial ruin. "About 30 percent of the active players are broke and 50 percent are ruined when their career ends." They are often poor, quite uneducated, and expected to support not only themselves but an entire assortment of extended family members, friends and hangers-on. Then, adding insult to injury, they are often tempted by drugs, alcohol and even gambling. Nothing ideal in that.

We have the high profile careers of Diego Maradona, George Best and Paul Gascoigne to measure by, but there are scores more. The life of a modern footballer in fact is rife with the grand temptations of our day. We see the Cristiano Ronaldo's or the Lionel Messi's and their multi-million euro contracts with sportswear and financial companies but the great majority of players never assail those heights, and yet they still feel tempted to live by that lifestyle. It's a shame.

There are companies that help them, consult over investments and financial deals, but they are their own worst enemies. We think they are better than we are, we worship them, and then when we see that they are not, we are angered by their waste. In the end they are just like us, maybe not as smart or street-wise even, yet ready to be taken advantage of.

Are we really so ready to judge? Time for the leagues to understand what it is like to live as a modern footballer, the grand majority of them, those that are far away from the spotlight, or the world-wide ad-campaign, those that are more and more like one of us in this financial crisis ready to swallow us whole. I think it's time for clubs to set aside a bit of their profits for retired players. They deserve it.

A Ransom for Racing Santander

Last week the Spanish papers were following a story that saw Racing President Francisco Pernia was in Bahrain negotiating with the business interests of an Indian financier named Ahsan Ali-Syed for the take-over of the Cantabrian club. This was the same businessman who failed in his attempt last year to secure a bid for the sale of Blackburn Rovers from the family of the late Jack Walker.

The effort to acquire one of the oldest clubs in England was successfully blocked, but Ali-Syed's purchase of Racing Santander has seen very little resistance. In cash strapped Spain, where everyone wants a Malaga marvel of their own, a magic bullet to shoot-through the economic constraints that affect every Spanish club, there are few people questioning whether this a Manchester City miracle or a Portsmouth mishap.

There is plenty to evaluate. He was born, or so he claims, in Bhongir, India to a rich, agricultural family and left at the age of 16 to make his fortune in investments, consulting with the rich and the royalty of the world. He states that his personal assets are in the range of 3.0 to 3.5 billion dollars and that he plays a role in over 133 companies world-wide. The BBC investigated him last year and found that much of it just wasn't true. No one in the regional government in India seems to have heard of him, no one in his hometown knows who he is, and his wealth seems to be built on a foundation of sand.

According to the BBC, for the past decade Syed has apparently struggled with solvency, has taken over companies that he has then run into the ground, dissolving their assets without paying returns on them, and has moved on to the next investment without punishment. He is being investigated in the UK, Canada, as well as in Bahrain for unpaid rent, unpaid taxes, and penalties accrued in financial markets amongst a litany of other damages.

I realize that Spain is hurting as are its football clubs. The world-wide financial crisis has hit them hard, and it would be crazy to forgo a helping hand, but it is often in dire financial times when the sharks are out because they smell blood in the water. There are real assets in Spanish football, especially at Racing Santander; the history, the supporters, and their collective memory are as valuable as the steel, mortar and concrete that built the Sardinero. There is a permanence there certainly, going back generations, but ask all those fans of clubs that were in the Primera in the last 30 years that were saddled with incompetent management, what of their club? What of their memories?

It's not just a club like Real Betis, who have struggled in Segunda over the last few years, or yo-yo clubs Numancia and Recreativo de Huelva, but clubs like Logrones, Burgos, Merida, Extremadura and Compostela who were once Primera clubs themselves but through financial mismanagement fell into a pit that they have never come back from. Some are struggling in the lower leagues, others have folded and have been replaced by other local clubs with similar names, and others still have disappeared into memory. Think of their supporters who followed them down the Spanish football pyramid.

Are Racing too big to follow suit? Maybe, but all it takes is a bad chairman or unresponsive fans to see them tumble.

Forza Futbol Interviews - Leander Schaerlaeckens

On today´s episode of Forza Futbol Interviews, we are joined by ESPN.com and Guardian.co.uk writer Leander Schaerlaeckens who talks about the Financial Fair-Play rules that UEFA are implementing, the economic status of clubs in Europe with an emphasis of Spanish clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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In Segunda, it'll be a disaster

A few months ago we talked about the financial status of some of the bigger clubs in La Liga and how regional clubs, the smaller clubs I might add, find it so hard to come straight back up in Spain. Alaves and Real Sociedad in the recent past have both struggled with financial difficulties after tumbling out of the first division. My club, RCD Espanyol are mired in a relegation battle that might sink them too, but they have something the others don't: a privately funded, 100 million euro stadium waiting to open officially in August of this year. It might as well be an expensive noose around their necks.

When Espanyol's old ground the Estadi de Sarria was demolished in 1997 the club moved into the nearby Olympic Stadium but fans never warmed to the oversized albatross at the Montjuic. They dreamed of a place of their own to rival the Nou Camp down the road. No one expected, as Jose Maria Gay an economist and a former advisor to the club recently stated in Marca, the effect that the new stadium would have on the club. "We have lived, eaten, and slept with the new stadium, but we didn't think that it would be the ruin of Espanyol in the second division" he said. The club have outstanding debts of over 150 million euros regarding the new stadium at Cornella-el Prat and have incurred about 20 million beyond that in production delays. The club have banked on increased revenues to offset that debt but it would be impossible to meet those payments playing in the second division. It would take years to recover sure, but is it any clearer for them if they do stay up?

As Sid Lowe said recently in the Guardian's football podcast, there is a financial storm coming in Spain that few are prepared to withstand. The financial health of the league itself is at stake. Professor Gay added that,"More than half the clubs in the Spanish league have yet to deposit their accounts in the Mercantile Register and a few clubs have gone years without revealing their records. Football clubs in Spain are in the same financial state as the Spanish economy: faced with a general loss of capital, little sponsorship or net funding, and a lot of debt." He also announced that UEFA are planning to release new regulations to curtail debt spending by European clubs.

That's a start. Clubs in Spain do carry a lot of debt, but the playing field is skewed. Clubs in England have no such worries right now. They can carry massive amounts of debt without repercussion or at least the same repercussions that restrict the manner in which equivalent French and German clubs do business. That places an incredible pressure on Spanish clubs to compete globally with English sides for advertising revenue. Global brand names like Real Madrid or FC Barcelona can survive and even thrive in that environment, but small regional clubs like mine will find it hard to maintain their place alongside for long unless some changes start happening domestically with the Spanish FA.