By James M. Dorsey
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Gulf investment in European soccer threatens to become a hot potato.
That is if the European Union’s competition authorities decide to investigate assertions by Spain’s top soccer league, La Liga, and a second-tier Belgian club, Royal Excelsior Virton (RE Virton), that subsidies from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to two European professional football clubs distort competition.
The complaints and legal battles between UAE-owned Manchester City and the Premier League reflect changes in European soccer, which supporters’ associations or local business people historically bankrolled.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed receipt of the Spanish and Belgian complaints but declined to say whether it would entertain them. Speaking off the record, European Union officials said the complaints would not be…
