Two years after La Liga side Espanyol President Joan Collet took over his position, "the economy is still strangling" his club, according to Rogelio Román of MUNDO DEPORTIVO. Principally, "it is the club's debt with the Spanish tax authorities," which has reached €45M ($57M). Everything was scheduled for Espanyol to hold its "second annual Shareholders Meeting on Nov. 18." This "will not happen." Espanyol VP Rafael Entrena "said that due to 'technical problems,' the date of this year's meeting is currently unknown." The "worst is that every year, the accounts are strangling the club more." For the upcoming season, of the club's budget of €48M ($61M) -- down €800,000 ($1.01M) from last year -- €18.5M ($23.4M) will be dedicated to the first team, €5M ($6.3M) to Espanyol's youth teams and the remaining €24.5M ($31M) to the club's annual contingencies fund. If, "as it is known," Espanyol is only paying €5M off its current total debt of €141M ($178M), and as it is obligated to pay €15M -- €6M ($7.6M) in November and €9M ($11.4M) in March -- to Spain's tax authorities, "it will make it difficult for the club to be able to survive." These numbers "say that more than 30% of the club's budget goes directly to the tax authorities." Espanyol Economic VP José Luis Morlanes "called the club's situation 'technical insolvency'" a little more than a year ago, and the "setting has not changed substantially" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 10/12).
