Uefa's general
secretary, David Taylor, has expressed concern about the financial
state of some English football clubs, warning that some may risk
"serious difficulties" if they continue to over-extend themselves.
Highlighting the case of Leeds United, Taylor suggested a number of
teams were living beyond their means.
"There are stories concerning some English clubs that are of
significant concern," Taylor told BBC Radio 5 Live. "There are a
number of English clubs where the value of the club itself has
fallen significantly and they are effectively on the market."
"We hope that the clubs themselves will not suffer in any
significant way from this but who knows? We've seen what has
happened in recent years with a number of very high-profile clubs,
Leeds United for example. They fell into serious financial
difficulties by over-extending themselves."
Leeds, reached the semi-finals of the Champions League as
recently as 2001, but their business model was reliant on
television revenue from the competition and when they failed to
qualify for the next season's tournament, the decline was rapid.
They were forced to sell of a number of key players in a bid to
clear debts, were relegated to the Championship in 2004 and forced
to sell both their Elland Road stadium and training ground. In 2007
they were relegated again to League One, and went into
administration.
"In this current economic environment, I would never say never
to anything like that," said Taylor when asked if another team
could ever endure a similar collapse. "Clearly we do not see that
as imminent but the concern is that we have to establish a stronger
financial basis on which clubs can compete."
Taylor said there was also "disquiet" in Uefa over the huge
transfer spending of Real Madrid and Manchester City so far this
summer. Madrid have so far spend more than £200m to sign Cristiano
Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Alvaro Arbeloa and Raul Albiol, and
reportedly hope to add Liverpool's Xabi Alonso before the season
begins. City, meanwhile, have spent close to £100m on Carlos Tevez,
Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo
Toure.
"I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising, a
little bit destabilising of the market," said Taylor. "It is
certainly raising the ante in terms of the player costs, in terms
of the general market place, which is not a thing that gives us a
great deal of comfort in these difficult times. There is certainly
disquiet in the corridors of power here."