UEFA approve plans to ban English clubs from Champions
League if they don't control spending
Suits you: UEFA president Michel Platini (centre)
with Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc
UEFA have approved plans to bar high-rolling Barclays
Premier League clubs from the Champions League if they spend beyond
their means.
Michel Platini has got his way on 'financial fair play' rules
that in principle will ban clubs from spending more than they make
from their revenues.
The aim is to end the trend of rich owners buying into the game
and transforming the fortunes of a club, as has been the case at
Chelsea
under Roman Abramovich Manchester
City under Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheik Mansour.
Manchester United,
Liverpool, Chelsea and
Arsenal kick off the group
stages of the Champions League this week knowing they will be under
more scrutiny from 2012-13, thanks to the decision by the UEFA
executive committee.
Platini, president of European football's governing body, has
been accused of particularly trying to break England's dominance in
Continental competitions.
The new rules would also be applied to the Europa League and
across clubs from all associations.
"We don't want to kill or hurt the clubs, on the contrary we
want to help them in the market," said Platini.
Own ideas: Premier League chief executive Richard
Scudamore
"The teams who play in our tournaments have unanimously
agreed to our principles. "The owners are asking for rules because
they can't implement them themselves, many of them have had it with
shovelling money into clubs and the more money you put into clubs,
the harder it is to sell at a profit."
UEFA believe current levels of spending cannot be sustained, but
their new rules will only be applied to their competitions rather
than domestic championships.
The Premier League have agreed new financial reporting methods
that will help to monitor when clubs might be hitting trouble.
There will even be powers for the League to veto transfers if
the board do not feel they are viable. But linking expenditure to
income, as with the UEFA plan, has been rejected.
Chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "Clubs will all have to
annually submit accounts and future financial information.
"At all times the board of the Premier League will be applying a
test which basically says this: can the club fulfil its fixtures,
pay off its creditors when they are due and also to meet
obligations to the Premier League's contracts and partners?
"If the board believe a club is at risk of not meeting those
obligations, it has to then step in and agree a budget for the
running of that club. Any transfers can be embargoed.
"It's absolutely crucial that these clubs are run as ongoing
viable concerns. These financial rules apply immediately.
"This is tied in, and we passed the rule during the summer, to a
'fit and proper person test'. At our club meeting last week, the
clubs absolutely endorsed our position of not linking expenditure
to income."
The Premier League rules will be applied immediately. Clubs must
submit independently audited accounts to the Premier League by 1st
March each year with requirements to note any material
qualifications or issues raised by auditors.
There will also be a requirement for clubs to submit future
financial information to the Premier League by 31st March each
year. This will act as an improved early warning system should any
club take undue financial risks which may have consequences for
future financial stability.
Clubs will also have to demonstrate to the Premier League Board
that they do not have outstanding debts to other clubs.
UEFA have appointed former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc
Dehaene to lead its campaign to control excessive spending by
Europe's top football clubs.
Dehaene, who led Belgium's government from 1992-99, will be the
chairman of UEFA's Club Financial Control Panel.
The panel will monitor the accounts of clubs which play in the
Champions League and Europa League. It will include about nine
experts who are independent from clubs or leagues.