The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) accounted for the revenue from the Super Cup played in Arabia in 2020 against the 2019 financial year, that is, before the competition was played . EY, the firm that has been in charge of auditing the balance and results of the body for the last fiscal year, has included caveats to them for the second consecutive year, warning that the accounts are not well expressed, therefore they cannot be compared and also fail to comply with financial regulations
Given this situation, the auditor warns that “in accordance with the regulatory framework for financial information (…) the headings Sales and Other current management expenses are undervalued by amounts of 17.8 million and 11.8 million euros respectively ” in the 2020 accounts. And not only that because the balance sheet reserves at the end of that year” are also overvalued by 5.99 million euros.
EY recalls that it already made a similar caveat the previous year, but since the Football Federation, which has declined to give any kind of explanation in the face of this newspaper’s call , has ignored it and has not restated the financial statements, the 2021 accounts are not now comparable to 2020 accounts.
revenue record
The accounts for the last year show that the net amount of turnover has increased by 53.76% between 2020 and 2021 , going from revenues of 230.6 million to 354.6 million euros, which is a record historical. Likewise, the result for 2021 rose to 32.81 million euros, thus recovering from 2020 when it had losses of 4.17 million. On the other hand, the treasury has more than doubled, growing specifically by 111%.
In 2020, the federation had almost 68 million euros, while in 2021 that amount rose to 143.4 million. However, the accounts have been for several years with caveats. Thus, the auditor already highlighted in the 2020 financial report that “the headings of Current Assets and Result of the balance sheet for 2019 (…) are overvalued by 2.49 and 5.99 million euros, respectively, while the Current liabilities are understated by €3.5 million .” The 2019 accounts closed with a net profit of 592,030 euros and a turnover of 208.4 million euros.
Under the pretext that the Super Cup is attractive and generates more economic income, Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, decided that he would change the venue and format of the competition, as well as its date. After a first edition in Morocco in 2018, in 2020 it was the first time that it was played in Saudi Arabia with the participation of four teams : Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, FC Barcelona and Valencia CF.
After the parenthesis due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19, this year the venue has been repeated since, in principle, the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Rubiales extends until 2029, establishing an annual value of 30 million euros.
Beyond, however, the Super Cup, EY also includes a paragraph of emphasis in its audit report to warn that the Federation’s accounts are being inspected by the Tax Agency and that the fact that there are even ongoing legal claims makes it impossible to detail the patrimonial impact that the result of these actions may have on the accounts.
Research
The Central Court of Instruction number 1 of the National Court is investigating, specifically, the possible irregularities committed by Ángel María Villar, former president of the organization.
The Central Court of Instruction number 1, which has been given until October 29 to complete the investigations, must decide if the facts constitute the alleged crimes of unfair administration, misappropriation, misappropriation of public funds, false documents, corruption between individuals, fraud and against the Public Treasury. Rubiales’ predecessor is accused of a possible diversion of funds after the outbreak in 2017 of the so-called Operation Soulé.
EY also recalls that the Federation also maintains an ongoing litigation with the National Professional Football League (LNFP) in relation to the compensation that Rubiales understands that it should pay for the television broadcast of the matches on Friday and place from second half of 2019. The Federation recorded revenues of 7.5 million that year based on the precautionary measures that were provided for in the judicial proceeding , canceling the initially recognized account receivable.”
However, EY warned him that ” in accordance with the regulatory framework of financial information that is applicable to it, the accounting registration requirements of the aforementioned income are not met , “so this item was overvalued.
One last aspect that generates controversy is that of the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas. The City Council of this town awarded him the land on which the sports city was built in 2014, but in 2020 it required him to carry out a series of actions that the RFEF rejected, filing a contentious-administrative appeal and requesting precautionary measures that were denied. . The auditor thus highlights that there continues to be a “situation of uncertainty” in the event that a judicial victory is not achieved.