Spain's leading football administrators have claimed online piracy is putting the very future of the professional game at risk, while calling for harsher legislation and heavier punishments against fans who view illegal streams of matches.
La Liga president Javier Tebas and high-profile figures from top clubs including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid spoke at a public debate entitled "Clubs at a Crossroads" that was held on Tuesday in Barcelona.
Tebas, who has defended the current system that sees Madrid and Barca receive the majority of all TV revenues generated, said at the event that new, stricter anti-online piracy laws were required to safeguard the competitive future of Spanish football.
"We need new legislation to act against the websites that illegally stream football matches and against companies that provide access to them online," Tebas said. "We are more concerned than anyone because the survival of football is at risk.
"If we invest less we will have fewer quality players and that will reduce the interest in our league. We will not achieve anything if the legislation is not improved. The big internet operators should intervene. I hope that when our reaction comes it is not too late."
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu, whose club is under investigation by the Spanish courts for potential fraud in the signing of Neymar, said that fans watching games online could potentially put teams out of business.
"Audiovisual piracy compromises the economic viability of the clubs," Bartomeu said. "The virtual grandstand represents nearly 30 percent of the clubs' budgets. Educating fans and raising their awareness -- it is everyone's responsibility and we clubs will assume our part to help the authorities, who must legislate against and pursue piracy."
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo -- who was found by a Spanish court to have taken control of the club by illegal means but escaped punishment on a legal technicality, and whose club owes 107 million euros in taxes to the Spanish state -- said that those who watch unauthorised online streams of games must be punished.
"Urgent measures to avoid piracy of matches need to be applied," Cerezo said. "The current laws are not very practical and there is a considerable loss. It is theft and it has to be punished. As long as the everything-is-free culture remains, nothing will be fixed."
Representing Real at the event, director general Jose Angel Sanchez said that nobody should be under the illusion that watching games illegally over the internet was not a crime.
"Piracy is a crime and it should be called what it is," Sanchez said. "It cannot be dressed up if we are to get to the bottom of the problem. If there are enough anti-piracy laws then they should be obeyed. If there are not, then they should be created."
According to a survey published in Marca, Spain is the most expensive country in Europe to watch football on TV. Fans in the country, which has been hit by a severe economic crisis in recent years, must pay 51.21 euros a month to ensure they can see all their teams' domestic games.
Earlier this year, the Liga de Futbol Profesional launched an anti-piracy education campaign, including a video featuring players such as Andres Iniesta, Gabi and Bruno Soriano. This video sought to explain the seriousness of the issue by showing images of players being violently assaulted by ordinary fans.