La Liga order Barcelona & Atletico Madrid to slash wages while Real Madrid cap increases
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have had their salary caps slashed by La Liga, while Real Madrid have been permitted to increase theirs.
The changes come in the wake of a review of all 20 clubs' budgets. La Liga sides had factored in the return of some spectators for the second half of the season, but with fans still barred, adjustments have had to be made.
Under these new rules, Barcelona's outgoings on wages, previously limited to £331m, will now be capped at £300m. Elsewhere, Atletico have also been hamstrung, seeing their budget reduced from £218m to £188m.
The only two clubs to see an increase in their budgets were Huesca and Real Madrid. Los Blancos are now permitted to spend an extra £4m, giving them a total cap of £409m. This gives Real an advantage over their rivals in economic terms but the La Liga table does not bear this out currently. Top of the pile are Atletico, who lead the Clasico rivals by five points with a game in hand over both.
La Liga president Javier Tebas explained the salary adjustments, revealing that just shy of £100m had been removed from club playing budgets overall.
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"Covid-19 put Spanish football to a test. We have seen that there is an end and we can get to the conclusion of this," he explained (via the Sun).
“So far we have had to deal with income down by £1.73bn but the clubs, especially the big ones, have been able to endure the crisis knowing how to reduce expenses. Spanish football is solvent.”
Tebas went on to indicate that the restrictions are likely to be loosened during the 2021/2022 campaign, saying: "Next season, with fans back, the income will come and so the salary cap for next season, possibly, will be higher."
Of course, it would not be a Tebas interview without him firing a few shots at Manchester City, despite it being almost entirely irrelevant to the topic he was initially discussing.
"City received a significant ban and CAS lifted it. Uefa made an effort, it went to CAS and then nothing happened. So CAS needs to be reviewed and investigated to see what they’re actually doing," he said.