Uefa has warned that clubs that fail to live within their means will have to “face the consequences” under its new rules, as Manchester City insisted their lavish spending spree was finally coming to an end.
The Uefa president, Michel Platini, this week faced questions on how City would comply with the Financial Fair Play rules, which come into force next season and could lead to clubs being banned from Europe from 2014-2015 if they overspend relative to their incomes.
Manchester City’s recent £121-million annual losses, following unprecedented spending in the wake of Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, has left many observers questioning how they can reconcile the huge investment with the new landscape.
But the problem of spiralling losses and wage inflation is not confined to Eastlands. Uefa’s 2009 benchmarking report, also published this week, showed that more than half of the clubs in Europe’s top divisions made a loss and contributed a record total of £998-million).
The Financial Fair Play criteria, outlined in detail for the first time, will require clubs to live on the income they generate or face a series of sanctions up to expulsion from Uefa competitions.
‘This is not a witch-hunt’
In the first two seasons clubs will be allowed to overspend by a total of €45-million and that permitted buffer will be reduced on a sliding scale for each three-year reporting period that follows. Unlimited investment in stadium infrastructure and youth academies will be permitted.
Leading Italian clubs also face problems but Platini said, whatever their stature, the European governing body would not hesitate to take action.
“If a club doesn’t fall in line and follow the same rules as everyone else then it will be time to face the music. Certainly it is not something we want to see,” he said.
“Our objective is not to put clubs into financial difficulty. Financial fair play is to help them escape from this devilish spiral and have a viable economic strategy in the long term. This is not a witch-hunt; this is so they no longer continue blindly and mindlessly.”
On the day that Roberto Mancini unveiled his latest £27-million capture, Edin Dzeko, he vowed that it would mark the end of the first chapter of City’s reinvention using the oil wealth of Abu Dhabi. Questioned on how the club would achieve the goal of complying with the new regulations, Mancini said there would be no major spree to match last summer’s.
“This is my ideal squad at the moment. We don’t need to buy another six or seven players next summer. Maybe two or three. We are building a great team at the moment. Every year we want to improve, but with another two or three players next season, no more,” he said.
Manchester City executives have consistently maintained that they intend to comply with the rules, which will also take into account any sponsorship or marketing deals not deemed to be at market rates. But to do so they will have to continue to increase revenues while cutting a wage bill that has spiralled since Mansour’s takeover and includes many players who no longer make the first team.
‘Very complex but vital’ scheme
Andrea Traverso, Uefa’s head of licensing, said: “We are in talks with the club — they are aware of the rules and they probably have a strategy to raise their income.”
Platini said: “Last year in Abu Dhabi I met up with the owner of Manchester City and he promised they would live with the rules and regulations.”
And for all Uefa’s tough talk and confidence that the impending rules were already having a deadening effect on transfer spending and wage inflation, there are signs that clubs will be afforded some latitude as long as they can prove they are heading in the right direction.
But Platini, who said the scheme is “very complex but vital for the future of football”, was keen to press home the point that the credibility of Uefa rests on its ability to deliver the more secure financial landscape he has promised. —