Off the wire
• Turnover at Nairobi bourse falls as foreign outflows surge  • Over 200 people honor memory of Holocaust victims at Riga memorial  • Unswerving fight against corruption in accordance with law: People's Daily  • Feature: China's Huawei lauded for promoting ICT in Kenya  • Interview: South China Sea dispute suggests U.S. efforts to contain China: Italian expert  • Gov't forces foil Boko Haram attacks in NE Nigeria refugee camp  • Islamic world condemns deadly terror bombings in Baghdad  • Waste deal with Italy stirs controversy in Morocco  • Panchen Lama conducts Buddhist service at Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery  • Boy shoots dead his cousin in Namibia  
You are here: 　 Home

EU clears support measures for 5 Dutch football clubs

Xinhua, July 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The competition regulators of the European Union (EU) have cleared support measures for five football clubs in the Netherlands.

After an in-depth investigation, the EU's executive body, the European Commission, on Monday concluded that support measures provided by several Dutch municipalities to FC Den Bosch, MVV Maastricht, NEC Nijmegen, Willem II Tilburg and PSV Eindhoven were in line with EU state aid rules.

"When public authorities hand out subsidies, there is a risk of competition distortions. Professional football clubs are businesses and the Commission needs to make sure that the economic competition between clubs is not distorted by state subsidies for a select few," said EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy.

"In the Dutch cases, we found that the measures respected state aid rules and did not distort competition," she said in a statement.

The Commission's investigation found that a realistic restructuring plan had been implemented for the football clubs Den Bosch, MVV, NEC and Willem II, such as reducing the number of employees, the number of registered players and players' wages, while a land transaction concerning PSV Eindhoven involved no aid as it took place on market terms.

The in-depth investigation opened in March 2013. Endit