http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=269394&cc=5901 Of 'primas' and donors Phil Ball With the Spanish league forced to take an unwelcome rest by dint of the flurry of internationals this week, the Fourth Estate has been up to its usual mischief - spreading rumours, fanning flames and blowing up bridges over troubled waters, not to mention mixing their metaphors. The absence of action on the pitch usually guarantees a corresponding glut of pseudo-controversy, insults and wild speculation off it, and with a mere two games left until the cessation of hostilities perhaps this was only to be expected. Several themes have reared their heads - Beckham of course, along with another of his possible destinations, Barcelona. The national side have been in the news too, for all the wrong reasons, and whilst Real Madrid and Real Sociedad have begun their own brands of 'psychological warfare' some suitcases have been allegedly filled, but with what? Hot air or Euros? All fascinating stuff, but let's begin at the end of the list, and talk of 'maletines'. These translate as 'suitcases', but not the sort that you pack with your holiday belongings. In the context of football, the word has an entirely different meaning, but it only begins to appear about three weeks from the end of a Spanish season. It relates intimately to the culture of tax avoidance, in which the Spanish are the unrivalled world experts. The idea is that the richer clubs in La Liga, desperate to preserve their exclusive status by at least ensuring a Champions League place every year, pay 'primas' (literally a 'productivity bonus'!) to the teams that are snoozing around mid-table with nothing to play for. They do this by illicit means, hence the suitcase-stuffed-full-of-notes metaphor, and they do it when a mid-table side is up against one of the paymaster's direct rivals for the loadsamoney spots in the division. And of course, whether they do it or not, any old jobsworth in the Spanish football press can suggest that they have since it is impossible to prove otherwise. Denial in Spain is seen as an admission of guilt, but it doesn't really matter anyway since the tabloids here are experts in covering their tracks. For example, Valencia's worthy but rather defensive draw at Real Sociedad was, according to various reports, the product of a 'substantial' suitcase delivered to the Mestalla stadium a few days before the game, bearing a Madrid postmark. The absurdity of the claim, allegedly backed up by 'an important member of the Valencia squad' seems even more out of order when you consider the fact that Valencia hardly needed a source of external motivation for a game that they needed to win in order to keep alive their own hopes of finishing in the top four. Naturally, all the talk is centred now on whether Atlético Madrid will play as hard in their last game at Real Sociedad as they undoubtedly will in their next game at home to their galactic neighbours Real Madrid. Pavón, Madrid's young centre-back, made his first foray into publicly dodgy announcements last week when he accused Jesus Gil of being 'sad' if his last desire as president of Atlético was to see Real blow the title in the Calderón - but worse than that was his implication that Atlético would not try in San Sebastián on the season's final day. Atlético wheeled out their counter spokesmen, with popular icon and rock-star goalie 'Mono' Burgos advising Pavón to be 'tranquilo' - that there was nothing to worry about. They were professionals. But the damage has already been done. The very existence of the claims and counter-claims is damaging to the sport, and the annual presence of this ridiculous issue both cheapens and shames a league that likes to describe itself as the best in the world. Unfortunately, there exists plenty of evidence that suitcases have indeed figured in the final league positions of some past campaigns, the most famous being the seasons 1992 and 1993 when Real Madrid twice lost on the final game of the season (on both occasions in Tenerife), defeats which handed the title to Barcelona's so-called 'Dream Team'. In 1992, when Madrid lost 3-2, the Galician referee García de Lorca was accused by Marca of being 'comprado' (bent), added to the fact that his reluctance to sue them for libel over the headline was proof of the fact that he had been bought off. But the accusations towards the referee were not about 'primas'. The Tenerife players were allegedly paid handsome individual sums by Barcelona to win the game, and in the case of the 2-0 win in 1993, several of the squad admitted quite openly that they had received money. Even worse, when Barcelona were asked to issue a statement regarding the allegations, that master of public relations, the recently-departed Joan Gaspart, announced to the press that although he wasn't admitting anything it was the club's view that even if they had paid Tenerife, they had done nothing illegal. This was unfortunately true, but was hardly the point. Gaspart was never one to ponder on the wider moral implications of either his words or his actions, but these two famous seasons seem to have institutionalised the practice and made it almost acceptable - as if it is almost expected now. It's high time that someone in FIFA paid a hard-nosed lawyer to look into the issue and try to come up with some edict that could outlaw the practice, to shut it down once and for all. If not, as ever it is the word 'sport' that gags most readily in the throat. Perhaps it is a trifle unfair to blame Gaspart for all of this, since if there are willing recipients in the ranks of the worse-off, those with the money can almost be excused for falling into temptation. But it's not a pretty sight, and Barcelona seem to be at the forefront of another annoyingly growing practice - the new art of wannabee presidents in leaking to a willing press the identity of the players that they intend to sign (or have already signed) should they win the majority of the club members' votes. Like politicians promising to cut tax to zero per cent in the event of their election, Florentino Pérez' famous promise that he would bring Figo to the Bernabéu (which he did) has set off a frenzy of similar behaviour in men much less able to pull off a similar stunt. Joan Laporta, engaged in a titanic struggle with Lluis Bassat to win the vacant seat at the Camp Nou, has pinned his hopes on suggesting that he has come to an arrangement with Manchester United over Beckham. The English tabloids have fallen for the idea, and their own interest in the theme has helped Laporta to catch Bassat in the latest 'mori' polls. Laporta has also leaked the name of Ronaldinho, despite the fact that he would appear to be either Manchester or Madrid bound - but no matter. Never let the truth get in the way of a good rumour. Poor Bassat's attempt to swing the polls his way at the hustings by dropping the unlikely name of Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas seems to have rebounded on him. South of Barcelona, Paco Roig is trying to win back his Valencia presidency by similar means, and never one to do anything by halves has implied that he would sign Claudio López (an old but knackered favourite), Sam Eto'o, Nihat, Trezeguet and... Beckham. Take that ye snivelling rivals! Meanwhile, up north at Grimsby, it is rumoured that Zidane fancies a year in a more humble, grass-roots environment. Remember, you read it here first! Last but not least, the hiatus in the league action has re-focused the country (or some parts of it) on Spain's Euro 2004 campaign, which up to this last weekend was proving to be the usual cake-walk. The surprising 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Greece was their first home defeat in a qualifier since France beat them 1-2 in 1991. The statistic is an impressive one, but also one that several analysts plausibly identify as the sand in Spain's Vaseline. Since they always stroll to the finals in weakish groups, the shock of real competition usually proves too much for them, talented though the squad invariably is. Greece played a canny defensive game, and scored on their only foray up front. With a midfield weakened by the absence of Baraja and the new starlet Alonso, Spain's mixture of thoroughly decent and brilliant players seemed to struggle when it came to supplying a tired-looking Raúl with the final pass, and they will have to win well in Belfast to restore their grip on the group. Nevertheless, if the perennial dark-horses actually have to sweat a bit to qualify this time, it may well stand them in better stead for the eventual finals. Northern Ireland probably weren't looking forward to the game in Belfast anyway, given their recent record against Spain - but they might have been hoping that their opponents would arrive relaxed and happy, with qualification all but in the bag. At least they know what to expect now - and we're not talking about suitcases.