Platini : We want to "protect clubs and not punish them"

zocoss SG

ABRAMOVICH ... loans

UEFA have rubber-stamped proposals to make sure all European clubs limit their spending on wages and transfers to what they earn.

This could affect Premier League champs Chelsea, who have heavily relied on the funds of owner Roman Abramovich.

UEFA president Michel Platini said: "I am not against debts - I am against losses."

The rules, phased in over the next three years, will cap at 45m the amount rich owners can spend to underwrite losses.

iceFatboy SG

well, english clubs are "out" of this UCL finals, U already succeeded, what's next, platini??

zocoss SG

UEFA have approved plans to force clubs in European competition to only spend what they earn with the body's president Michel Platini insisting they want to "protect clubs and not punish them".

The financial fair play rules will require clubs to break even over a rolling three-year period if they want to play in the Champions League or Europa League.

Clubs will also be assessed on a risk basis, taking into account "debts and salary levels", UEFA say.

Platini, speaking after UEFA's executive committee had approved the rules at a meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, said: "We have worked on the financial fair play concept hand-in-hand with the clubs, as our intention is not to punish them, but to protect them.

"We have an agreement with the clubs. The philosophy is that you cannot spend more money than you generate.

"This approval today is the start of an important journey for European football's club finances as we begin to put stability and economic common sense back into football. I thank all the stakeholders who have supported this along the way."

There will be some leeway granted for the six years after 2012 but some Premier League clubs, notably Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa could still fall foul of the rule unless they change their spending habits.

Manchester United have carried out a 'dummy test' and believe they would pass the rules despite the handicap of paying out £45million to service their debts every year.

Arsenal and Tottenham would pass the test comfortably, while Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers would probably do so too.

A United spokesman said: "We support the financial fair play measures. We are confident that we pass them and that we will continue to do so."

The chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said the new rules were "a huge achievement" that would shape the future of European club football into a more responsible and sustainable business."

The new UEFA scheme will come into effect in 2012 although some leeway is given for an introductory period.

It is understood that initially clubs must not return losses of more then 45million euros (£38million) for the 2012-15 period. After 2015, clubs are given a leeway of 30million (£26million) for three-year losses after which the figure will be reduced still further.

If clubs breach the rules then they will not be granted a UEFA club licence to take part in European competitions.

The rules will also limit the amount of cash 'sugar daddies' will be able to pour into the clubs to fund transfers and high wages, though they will be allowed to finance capital projects such as stadiums and academies.

Attempts to bypass the rules by owners handing out huge sponsorship contracts to their clubs from other companies they own will also be checked by an independent watchdog panel appointed by UEFA to ensure they are not paying above the market rate.

The FA and Premier League - who will be the bodies that jointly provide the UEFA licences to English clubs - have given the new rules a cautious welcome.

A joint statement from the organisations read: "The FA and the Premier League are fully supportive of the principle of sustainability and of football clubs living within their means.

"The vast majority of what has been agreed by UEFA is in line with current domestic regulations and English football will respect any rules put in place for clubs competing in Europe.

"We recognise the difficult task undertaken by UEFA in this process and we have asked that certain issues be monitored so as to ensure these rules do not create unintended consequences such as preventing smaller clubs from having the opportunity to invest the resources required to compete at a higher level."

zocoss SG

When Michel Platini surveys the European football landscape, whether it be from Uefa’s headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva or from the VIP area at one of the game’s cathedrals in Manchester, Madrid or Milan, he sees inequality all around.

Worse than that, though, Platini sees excess and brinksmanship. He sees clubs living as extravagantly as the French aristocracy under Louis XVI. He sees transfer fees and players’ wages spiralling out of control. He sees, as he puts it, the football being inflated and inflated and inflated and he knows that either it is deflated gently, but forcefully, or it explodes.

The climate is right for revolution and the era of dangerous excess should be brought to an end by Uefa’s unanimous vote last night to accept Platini’s “financial fair play” regulations. With spending strictly linked to revenue from 2012 onwards, with only minimal additional investment permitted from owners, clubs will be protected from the kind of self-destructive spending that has taken Portsmouth to the verge of liquidation.

Any measure that protects football clubs from their worst excesses is to be applauded, but Platini’s pursuit of a level playing field began with a bid to restore equality. It started with a desire to restore genuine competitiveness across the board — so that Aston Villa and Everton could challenge once more to be champions of England, so that Ajax and Celtic could compete once more to be champions of Europe — and, at a domestic level at least, there is a danger that “financial fair play” merely reinforces existing class divisions.

The eight Premier League clubs with the largest revenue in the past financial year were, in order: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Everton and Aston Villa. In the season that followed, not only did those clubs constitute the league’s top eight but their final position in the league table was a maximum of two places away from their placing in the revenue table. Given that the status quo was preserved and will indeed be strengthened by prize money, gate receipts and commercial income, it is hard to see those eight clubs being overtaken any time soon.

If the new regulations promised to break that cartel, to turn the top domestic leagues into the kind of meritocracy that Platini enjoyed when Saint-Etienne were dominating French football in the early 1970s, with Borussia Mönchengladbach doing likewise across the border in West Germany, we would all be celebrating. Instead, financial fair play threatens to reinforce those class divisions, making the possibility of upward mobility, of the type enjoyed by Fulham and, regrettably, Portsmouth in recent years more remote than ever.

That Portsmouth are cited as an example will bring a wry smile to Platini’s face. The chaos that has arisen at Fratton Park over the past two years — since Alexandre Gaydamak, the former owner, sought to recoup his investment in the light of the FA Cup triumph in 2008 and the economic crisis that followed — is precisely the kind of situation that Platini is determined to avoid.

But “living the dream” — to borrow the infamous phrase uttered by Peter Ridsdale, the former Leeds United chairman — is precisely what Fulham are doing, to widespread acclaim and romance, with almost £200 million of loans from Mohamed Al Fayed, their owner.

Under “financial fair play”, there would be no repeat of the Portsmouth situation, but nor would there be the kind of fairytale enjoyed by Fulham’s supporters this season, as they reached the Europa League final, and which City supporters confidently believe lies ahead under Sheikh Mansour.

In less than two years, City have bought players such as Gareth Barry, Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tévez — with far more to follow — and, their historical penchant for hilarious failure notwithstanding, they will surely soon compete for the Premier League title. Come 2012, though, what next? Their spending — including a wage bill that will have continued to soar in the meantime — will be strictly linked to turnover.

At least City, having got rich at just the right time, will be the right side of the class divide. For those on the other side, more than ever, they will know their place.