The Spanish government and the country's football league have agreed to rules designed to pave the way for clubs to pay off hundreds of millions of euros in tax debts in a case that has attracted the attention of European Union antitrust officials.
Clubs in Spain's top two divisions owe about 750 million euros in tax, and another 600 million to the social security system.
If La Liga fails to enforce the rules, its directors could be removed and income from lottery sales withheld.
A university study has shown that the 20 clubs in Spain's top division had combined debts of about 3.53 billion euros at the end of last season.
