Barcelona may receive VIP seats payment ahead of schedule | OneFootball

Barcelona’s summer plans remain shrouded in uncertainty this summer, with their salary limit once again the main talking point in the Catalan capital. After auditors Crowe decided they could not include the €100m lease of 475 VIP seats for 30 years in this year’s accounts, the Blaugrana are racing against time to revert that situation before the end of Barcelona’s fiscal year, at the end of June.

Their idea is to have the renovated Camp Nou ready for action when it comes to the VIP seats by June, and to be able to present New Era Visionary Group (NEVG) and Fortia Advisors with a receipt for their purchase before the end of their accounting year. Thus they can in theory prove to Crowe that they have delivered the product, while before they said the deal could not be included as the product did not yet exist. As such, without that €100m deal, Barcelona were back in the red with regard to their salary limit.

Image via Sport / Valenti Enrich

New Era Visionary Group to make second payment early

Fortia Advisors have already paid their €30m share for 125 of the seats, while NEVG have put up €28m, leaving them €42m to pay. Their payments were scheduled for September and December, but Moldovan businessman and convicted fraudster Ruslan Birleadeanu has already secured the commercial agreements necessary say MD, and could advance the second payment to this June. This could aid them in their bid to prove to Crowe and La Liga that they should have the deal included in their accounts.

La Liga suspicions and division of payments

This would not necessarily be the end of the matter though, if the deal is included in Barcelona’s audit. La Liga are suspicious over the business links between Barcelona, Forta Advisors and NEVG, and are investigating the deals. In addition, with the lease coming over 30 years, there has been some suggestion that La Liga may want to pro rata the deal, dividing the income over the length of the deal.