(eca110): Spain divided about tax increases for footballers (Feature)

Madrid - Spain is completely divided as to whether the stars of La Liga should pay more income tax. Since the 1970s the Spanish Liga has been a well-paid haven for some of the best footballers in the world - but that might be about to change. Johann Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Hugo Sanchez, Bernd Schuster, Ronald Koeman, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Lionel Messi, to name but a few, have all enjoyed the sun, the food and the pleasant lifestyle that Spain has to offer - not to mention lower taxes than in other countries. Football stars in La Liga, whether Spanish or foreign, have traditionally paid only 24 per cent of their massive earnings in tax, which is considerably lower than in other European countries. Indeed, the football clubs of Italy, Germany, France and Britain have consistently complained that this discrepancy has put Spanish clubs at a clear advantage when it comes to signing foreign stars. This past summer Real Madrid spent heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema, while Barcelona splashed out massively on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been contemplating raising the highest bracket of income tax from 24 per cent to 43 per cent, for people earning over 600,000 euros (883,720 dollars) per year. Zapatero has already increased several other taxes, in a difficult attempt to close Spain's bulging budget deficit and to continue to pay unemployment and other welfare benefits in a time of painful economic recession. There has been a mixed reaction to the governments' proposals. On Tuesday left-of-centre newspaper Publico defended the government's plans, 'at a time of national problems and hardship.' And on Wednesday Jose Antonio Alonso, the spokesman for the ruling socialist party in the Spanish parliament said that 'everyone has to tighten their belts at the moment, including footballers.' Alonso added that 'this will be done for reasons of equity, solidarity and fiscal justice.' However, sports dailies AS and Marca have heavily criticized the proposals, claiming that it could lead to an exodus of foreign players from La Liga. Joan Laporta, president of European champions Barcelona, said on Wednesday that the tax changes, if they are put into practice, 'could be a strong obstacle against the competitiveness of Spanish football.' He also criticized the government for not having consulted about the plans. 'It seems inappropriate to promote these measures without consulting the people who organize football.' Laporta finished by claiming that the low-tax system 'has shown that it works, at national team level as well as at the level of (European) club competitions.' Also on Wednesday, Jose Luis Astiazaran, the president of the League of Professional Football, the association of clubs, denounced the proposed changes and even hinted that the clubs might consider strike action. 'If these measure are adopted,' he said on Wednesday, 'then the path of confronting this decision will have to be adopted, even by stopping the league competition if necessary.' Later on Wednesday economy minister Elena Salgado appeared to be trying to calm the storm of criticism that the government has received, when she said the present contracts signed by players will be respected. 'The contracts made until now,' she said, 'will continue to be valid in those conditions for the next few years.' She added that she was 'surprised' at the threat of Aristiazaran to contemplate strike action. Salgado claimed that the present system 'is not very reasonable' because it has been designed as a way of attracting foreign scientists and entrepreneurs to Spain 'rather than footballers.'