Re: Moggi Tapes
Here it is too, and it is something very "tricky" when it is done obscurely and with no apparent reason. But this case was very particular, as it happens to be that when Real Madrid bought the land it was the outskirts of the city, and therefore considered a place in which only gardens and sports facilities could be built. But from then on the city continued to grow, and what had been the outskirts soon became integrated into the center of the city. Why? Because the City Council changed the destination of the land allowing construction there decades ago. Every piece of land, but Real Madrid's, had been re-considered and allowed construction. Real Madrid initially had no interest in building there, so they just did not ask for that change until they needed it. It is a much simpler situation than it appears to be.
Would you consider that unfair?

I think it would have been much more unfair to deny Real Madrid what had been given to everyone else before. Many teams had stadia or training fields outside small cities, and when these grew, they sold the land and bought new land outside the city. Many other teams have demolished their stadium and sold the land to "survive". Atlético de Madrid is on its way of doing it now. Having land inthe center of a city is having a major assett, for both a normal person and a sports team. If your land gains value with time that's only the result of your investment, the same way as if your players are bought for a small figure and five years later they are worth much more.
I agree that there are some strange operations involving city councils and big constructors in order to change some land's possibilities of building, but, as you clearly can see here, there is nothing strange with this. You said that - quote - "Real Madrid had millions of debts until Perez came, then he set up some sort of
hoax with the municidad de Madrid. The
municidad bought Real Madrid's training complex for millions and
returned it as a "gift" to Real..."
All those three bold statements are false. Real Madrid set no hoax with the council. They just filed for the reconsideration of their land, as had happened with all the surrounding area prior to this. That's absolutely legal here, in Belgium and in Sebastopol. Then you say that it was the city who bought the land. That is not correct. The city council and the government of the region of Madrid agreed to the reconsideration of the land, but only as long as Real Madrid agreed to refuse to 2/3 thirds of that land, which would be shared by the city council and the region of Madrid. Of course, no land was returned to Real Madrid, the team decided to keep and not sell a small part of their land.
After that each part of the land was sold separately by their owners, and oil group Repsol YPF, Mutua Automovilística de Madrid and constructors Sacyr Vallehermoso and OHL were the private groups that bought the land and started construction there. There were some accusations of "obscure" facts, and both Manchester United and Bayern Munich complained about the situation. The case was brought to the European Commission in Brussels and was investigated personally by commisioner Mario Monti. The case was closed in 2004, after the Commission declared that "there were no State helps of any kind". You can research on this one, you'll find all I say is verifiable and correct.
http://www.lukor.com/not-mun/europa/0411/08202740.htm
What I mean by all this is that many clubs were annoyed to see how Real Madrid got rid of their debt. The fact is that Real Madrid had the right to sell their land, the case was investigated by the EU and Brussels clearly stated that there was nothing wrong with that. I take that as a very important fact to prove that what happened not only was not morally wrong, but also was totally legal and fair according to not only the Spanish government, but also - ironically - Brussels and the EU Commission. So it seems that it is legal in Belgium after all.
I however do not deny that this probably is not the same way that some football magazines may have portraited the story. But you know that Manchester United and other European teams were displeased with the situation, and bias may occur when treating this info abroad. It happened too here, and Barcelona papers were very angry that this had happened... but they had no right to complain. I have given very detailed information about all this things, easily verifiable if you wish - especially living in Belgium as you do - and I'm sure that you'll admit that after the hearing the complete story and knowing how the EU investigation finished, there's little wit in keeping these stories of "Real Madrid cheating" and all that.
Maybe World Soccer and Four Four Two are not the best sources of information about Spain's urban regulation after all.

Please, forget about this case. It was asked that this was investigated, it was, and the EU made it clear that there was nothing even slightly wrong with this. So move on.
It was good debating this with you though, sorry for having perceived your "cultural differences" statement as an arrogant one, my fault.
Regards.