"Certain other football clubs have been able to benefit" - Barcelona hit out at Real Madrid, confirm appealing National Court verdict in Supreme Court
Barcelona have seemingly hit out at bitter rivals Real Madrid while confirming they will appeal the National Court's verdict to uphold the penalty imposed on them over alleged tax irregularities at the Supreme Court.
Recall that Barcelona had a €23 million tax liability imposed on them over alleged irregularities by Spain's Central Economic Administrative Court back in 2020. The Catalan giants had their initial appeal declined by the National Court but have now confirmed that they'll launch another appeal at the Supreme Court.
In an official statement, the club questioned the National Court's ruling on the subject, claiming that other clubs "have been able to benefit", seemingly aiming a dig at Real Madrid who have also faced similar accusations in the past.
"Futbol Club Barcelona shall be presenting an appeal to the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)," the statement read (via GOAL). "It comes as a surprise that the Contentious-Administrative house at the National Court has not considered the most recent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on this matter, from which certain other football clubs have been able to benefit in recent sentences on the same matter."
The statement continued:
"The divergent criteria of the National Court is also surprising when, a few months ago, another section accepted an appeal from our club on an identical issue to the current one that derived from the same inspection in relation to the Non-Resident Income Tax. This ruling does not entail any payment obligation for the club at present, this contingency being properly provisioned in the annual accounts."
Barcelona will be desperate to turn the situation around to avoid paying the €23 million penalty, especially at a time when their financial condition has taken a turn for the worse
Barcelona living in Real Madrid's shadow this season
The 2023-24 campaign is proving to be a spectacular one for Real Madrid and the complete opposite for their Catalan counterparts. In fact, the Blaugrana have been overshadowed by their bitter rivals in several aspects this season.
Starting with the transfer business from last summer down, Barca failed in their bid to bring back Lionel Messi and also couldn't capture their top targets including Bernardo Silva and Joshua Kimmich.
Los Blancos meanwhile, succeeded in making Jude Bellingham their marquee signing and seem to be on track to land Kylian Mbappe.
Carlo Ancelotti's men battered Xavi's side 4-1 to win the Spanish Super Cup last month. They also beat the Blaugrana 2-1 in their first La Liga meeting of the season and currently sit atop the table with 58 points while Xavi's side occupies the third spot with 50 points.