UEFA approves new rules to scrutinize soccer club finances

NYON, SWITZERLAND: UEFA approved new financial monitoring rules for European soccer clubs on Thursday, giving up on “fair play” and lowering expectations it can solve the competitive imbalance in the Champions League.

The “Financial Fair Play” system in place since 2010, and known as FFP, will be replaced in June by “Financial Sustainability” regulations.

“Competitiveness cannot be addressed simply by financial regulations,” UEFA project leader Andrea Traverso said at a briefing, adding the words “fair play” had been misinterpreted to mean “we create a level playing field.”

“This is why we changed the name,” he said, describing a “huge, complex exercise to get a consensus” across European soccer for a financial review that became inevitable after the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Champions League has been dominated by the wealthiest of clubs that are able to afford rising player salaries and huge transfer fees. Over the past decade, the most unlikely club to reach the final was Tottenham — which currently has the 10th-highest revenue in world soccer. Only Spanish and English clubs won the Europa League.

The new rules were praised last week by the Spanish league for “restricting the ability of state-owned clubs to commit financial doping.” That statement did not identify clubs but clearly targeted Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain — owned by the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively.

By 2025, clubs playing in UEFA competitions will be limited by the “squad cost rule” to spending 70 percent of their revenue on salaries and transfers or face financial and — eventually — sporting sanctions.

After two years of financial penalties, persistent rule-breaking clubs could be barred from