La Liga Deportivo La Coruna Debts Highlight Problems In Spanish Football

The "perilous state" of the finances of some of Spain's professional football clubs was highlighted Wednesday with the revelation that La Liga side Deportivo la Coruna has debts totaling €156.3M ($201M), of which €93.7 ($120.7M) are owed to the Spanish Treasury, according to XINHUA. The figure was published by the company AD Cryex, which is currently managing Deportivo's financial affairs after the club "recently went into voluntary administration" on Jan. 10. Deportivo, currently bottom of La Liga with just 20 points from 28 games, had announced debts of around €93M ($120M) on the day it went into administration. However, the club appears to have "greatly underestimated its tax debt, originally publishing debts of less than half of which the new report says it now owes." The report said, "The real causes of the insolvency are the fact that they maintained a form of management which was far removed from reality, increasing expenses and investments in multiple aspects and in quantities which are absolutely removed from the economic possibilities of the society" (XINHUA, 3/20).