UEFA agree new financial sustainability rules for clubs

MANCHESTER, England :UEFA's executive committee has approved new "sustainability regulations" to replace the previous Financial Fair Play system, president Aleksander Ceferin said on Thursday.

A new "squad cost rule" will limit spending on wages, transfers and agent fees to 70per cent of a club's revenue - with that figure reached after a three-year gradual change.

"UEFA's first financial regulations, introduced in 2010, served its primary purpose," Ceferin said at the Executive Committee meeting in Nyon.

"They helped pull European football finances back from the brink and revolutionised how European football clubs are run.

"However, the evolution of the football industry, alongside the inevitable financial effects of the pandemic, has shown the need for wholesale reform and new financial sustainability regulations."

UEFA added that acceptable losses will double from 30 million euros ($32.74 million) over three years to 60 million euros over the same period.

The new regulations will come into force in June 2022, with a gradual implementation over three years so clubs have time to adapt.

($1 = 0.9163 euros)

(Reporting by Simon Evans and Rohith Nair; editing by Jason Neely and Toby Davis)