Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and AC Milan are among the 8 clubs that have been fined by UEFA for breaching its Financial Fair Play rules. The clubs have been asked to pay at least £22.5m but that can go up to £149m.
La Liga club Barcelona which has been in trouble for the past year due to its financial crisis has not been fined by UEFA. The head body of European Football has fined these clubs for not adhering to its “break-even” rules. In accordance with the break-even rule, clubs must balance their finances over three years and must not spend more than they make.
UEFA has also told 19 other clubs that it will be closely monitoring them. The clubs include Chelsea, Leicester City, Manchester City, West Ham United, and Rangers FC. It is interesting to note some clubs fined by UEFA are also among the biggest spenders in the summer transfer window.
Premier League clubs have spent the equivalent of the amount spent by other Top 4 European League combined. This has led many to believe that the “Super League” already exists in some form in the Premier League.
UEFA FFP Rule
It has been said that UEFA has been negligent in properly enforcing its Financial Fair Play rules across the leagues in Europe. The fines come at a time when Chelsea has broken the record for the most money spent by a Premier League club in a window whereas recently promoted side Nottm Forest was among the top 5 spenders.
Nottm Forest has signed an astonishing 21 players this summer for a total of $178 Million. This has led some to question if these many signings are indeed necessary for a club just promoted.
UEFA fines are a signal that the organization is watching the balance sheets and is paying close attention to enforcing the rules. These fines will either be paid upfront or deducted from the clubs’ earnings from UEFA club competitions such as the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.
