The legal battle arising from the withdrawal of renewable energy subsidies is crossing paths with the Spanish national team’s journey to the next FIFA World Cup. Several investors holding favorable arbitration awards have set their sights on the competition—to be held this coming June and July across the United States, Mexico, and Canada—to ramp up pressure on Spain and seek payment of their respective compensations.
Creditors have conducted a meticulous search of the commercial relationships established by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the High Council for Sports (CSD), and other public entities ahead of the World Cup. Among other companies, requirements have been directed at Adidas as the sports equipment supplier, Rock-it Cargo as the logistics provider, and Hilton as the owner of the Embassy Suites hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the team managed by Luis de la Fuente is scheduled to stay.
Each document sent to these companies includes an exhaustive list of Ministries and other institutions linked to the Spanish State. In practice, this means that payments and commercial relationships tied to Spain’s participation in the World Cup are under judicial scrutiny and could be intercepted to satisfy outstanding debts.
Notable among the resolutions confirmed by U.S. courts is that of NextEra, which granted compensation of €290.6 million. Others include Infrastructure Services/Antin (€125.1 million), Watkins (€79.5 million), 9Ren (€44 million), Cube (€40.2 million), and InfraRed (€35 million).
