Atletico one of six clubs who owe 70% of Spanish football's tax debt
While almost three quarters of money owed to the government is held by six clubs, debt on the whole has been reduced by nearly two thirds since 2012. Real Madrid and Barcelona owe nothing.
Spanish football clubs have slashed their tax debtsto around a third of their 650 million euros ($720 million) apex from three years ago, La Liga officials said on Tuesday.
Debt reduced to €230m
First and second division clubs have a cumulative 230-million-euro debt to the Spanish government, with six clubs -- Atletico Madrid and Espanyol of La Liga and Valladolid, Mallorca, Zaragoza and Elche of the second tier -- responsible for over 70 percent of that sum.
Real Madrid, Barcelona owe nothing
Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona owe any tax to the government.
"Thanks to a clean up in professional football the debt has been progressively reduced, as has global debt in the game," La Liga's internal affairs director Javier Gomez said.
The debtors have all been subject to La Liga safeguard measures and had negotiated gradual repayments with the tax authorities.
€50m by 2020
La Liga predicts the debt control measures now in place will see the debt reduced to 50 million euros by 2020.