Subsidiaries, in the spotlight

In Spanish non-professional football there is a recurring debate, that of the subsidiaries. Your presence pleases and uncomfortable in equal parts. Some view it favorably that they compete in the same league for the economic attractiveness they can have and others see them as a competitive disadvantage. At the meeting to create the new First RFEF, the possibility of limiting the number of subsidiaries in the groups was discussed.. The Federation will study this option in the medium-long term.

For the First RFEF There are already 30 teams classified, of which eight are subsidiaries and five more could get through the play-offs of the second phase of Second B. In total, these dependent teams will account for a quarter of the participants. Its presence, for the other clubs, has advantages and disadvantages. One of them is its attractiveness and the social mass behind it. Being the subsidiary of Madrid and Barcelona attracts more television and fans. Hosting one of these teams gives you a better chance of having more viewers on the field and also making more money from the sale of television rights. This is one of the aims of the RFEF, to sell these audiovisual rights in a centralized way and for a single operator to buy all the games. Get more money if they all go together than they would individually.

One of the negative points that has the presence of subsidiaries in these categories is the financial support they have from their 'older brother'. While many of the teams that now make up Second B, have a very tight budget and cannot make large financial expenditures, they require great efforts to invest in infrastructure and other types of expense, for these subsidiaries it is not a great problem. The income from professional football helps these teams play in top-level Sports Cities and even can count on the best players Y promises National and international. Vinicius and Rodrygo played several games with Castilla, with signings that came for 45 million each. Figures unthinkable for the rest of the clubs.

And it is precisely at this point, in that of the young players, where the controversy has arisen over an injury between the subsidiaries and the rest of the teams for the First RFEF. According to several clubs consulted by AS, They did not like the decision to impose that of the 23 chips that teams must have in this new category, the number of U-23s be increased to 8. Until now, there were 6 in Second B. “The subsidiaries start with an advantage. They have tied up the best players under 23 years of age because they sign them for very high contracts. The rest of the teams do not have to distribute what they do not want,” they tell AS . The number of non-EU members has not been limited either, which could lead to several of these U-23 players being promises from other countries who are signed by Primera clubs and put to test in their subsidiary.

In addition, the number of subsidiaries will be significant in the First RFEF: Castilla, Barcelona B, Villarreal B, Betis Deportivo, Real Sociedad B, Bilbao Athletic, Valladolid B and Celta B are already classified and another five Osasuna B, Atlético Levante, Sevilla Atlético and Cádiz B have options to enter. The RFEF will study future options to limit its presence in these categories.

It is recurring in Spain the debate of the affiliate league. In other words, copy the English model and put these teams to compete with each other. In Spain this model was proposed at the beginning of the century, but it did not go ahead. But the debate was also on whether it was More beneficial for this football players compete with each other or with more experienced players as they could be found in Segunda B. In Italy, for example, only the Juve subsidiary competes in Serie C; while in Germany and France there are limitations for these teams. German subsidiaries can only go up to the third category at most, as they must always be one category apart from their parent team. Namely, a subsidiary of a Bundesliga team cannot compete in the Bundesliga 2 (your second division), but in the third category. In France, the limit is lower. The presence of subsidiaries is only allowed up to the fourth category.