Barcelona earn 708 million euros last season

Spanish giants FC Barcelona confirmed that the club made earnings of 708 million euros; 13 million euros more than was budgeted for.

The Spanish club reported that the earnings were made for the just ended period of July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.

It may have been a disappointing season on the pitch for Barca, who were knocked out of the quarter-finals of the Champions League and finished behind Real Madrid in the race for the Liga Santander title; but in financial terms it was a bonanza.

According to the books, that means Barca showed a profit of 18 million euros for a season in which 66 per cent of expenditure was on “payment of salaries to athletes.”

The official Barcelona website explained that the growth is “in line” with the club’s strategic plan to have earnings of 1,000 million euros by 2021.

The results also helped to reduce Barcelona’s important debt, which now stands at 247 million euros.

A recent article in Forbes Magazine made Barcelona the fourth most valuable sports club in the world, placing them behind the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Yankees and Manchester United with a value of 3.64 billion euros.

In a related development, Angel Maria Villar, President of the Spanish football federation and FIFA vice-president, was on Tuesday arrested along with his son, Gorka, in an anti-corruption operation, La Guardia Civil law enforcement agency said.

The headquarters of the federation was raided in furtherance of an investigation on alleged falsification of documents and corruption bordering on misappropriation of funds, a statement by the agency said.

The operation is being carried out by La Guardia Civil under the supervision of the judge of the National Court, Santiago Pedraz.

In initial investigations, it was alleged that Villar favoured leaders of regional federations, using the federation’s money to obtain support for his re-election as the head of the Spanish Football Federation.

Villar, 67, was re-elected unopposed in May for the eighth time in a row as RFEF president to begin another four-year term.

(dpa/NAN)