Following comments from Spanish Minister for Tax & Administration Cristóbal Montoro, who "demanded that football clubs resolve their tax debts," Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Ángel María Villar said, "Spanish football is a power and it has teams with worldwide recognition," according to Elena S. Bartolomé of EL CONFIDENCIAL. While Villar "looked away," Spanish Football League (LFP) President Javier Tebas "was praising the results that have come from the financial control regulations that La Liga and second division clubs must follow." From Tebas' comments, "it appears that he does not share Villar's view." Tebas explained that clubs "receive instructions about how to make their budgets and limit spending to be viable." Tebas: "This is how we have reduced the debt by €200 million ($253M) in the last year and a half. Without financial control, the LFP would have disappeared." He added, "We are seeing a clear change in tendencies. In five or six years I expect the collective debt of the clubs to be balanced, with only three or four with economic problems." Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD), for its part, "has not stayed out of the controversy related to football." CSD Dir General Ana Muñoz said, "Clubs have to comply like any other citizens. The tax authorities' responsibility is to guarantee that we all contribute to sustaining public spending" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 10/2).
