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SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION OFFERS CLUBS INTEREST-FREE LOANS TO PAY BILLS

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Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales on Wednesday (March 25) announced lines of credit for lower-level clubs in difficulty because of the coronavirus pandemic and repeated that he hoped the season could be completed.

He also told an online press conference he was willing to talk to La Liga, which runs the top two divisions, about helping its clubs.

Rubiales said that semi-professional and non-professional clubs in men’s and women’s outdoor and indoor football “will have a line of credit that will reach up to €4 million (S$6.26 million) depending on their wage bills”.

He said the loans would be interest-free and could be repaid over two years.

Some clubs are considering introducing part-time working to compensate for lack of income.

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Rubiales said he hoped that this aid would help prevent such drastic action.

“We’re talking about four million for modest levels of football, but there’s also professional football and we want to reach out to it,” said Rubiales.

“If La Liga wants to talk, it’s time to do the maths,” he said.

“We have worked on a line of financing of €500 million.”

He said the RFEF was ready “to sit down and look for financing for clubs that are going to have a problem”.

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“(If the season) does not end on June 30, which is more probable, there are going to be clubs that do not receive 100 per cent of the money from television,” he added.

He said he could make €500 million available “for first and second division clubs, who need €15 million to €20 million now”.

Rubiales reiterated that competition will resume “when it is possible”, but he said he wanted to “give clubs fighting relegation the chance to save themselves, and those in a position to win promotion the chance to earn it”.

-AFP

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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