Europe’s top football clubs back new spending cap in place of financial fair play
The influential European Club Association (ECA) has backed the proposed scrapping of football’s controversial financial fair play (FFP) rules in favour of a new cost-control system based on a soft spending cap.
Uefa’s planned shake-up is the biggest change to the financial regulation of European club competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League in more than a decade and are scheduled to be phased in from next year.
“These new rules are designed to ensure costs are better controlled, while still encouraging investment that will secure our game’s long-term sustainable future,” ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said today.
“Uefa has incorporated many of ECA’s comments – made on behalf of all 240-plus clubs – including how the new rules need to be simple, fair, transparent and enforceable; and we look forward to the new system being implemented shortly.”
Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of Paris Saint-Germain and a member of Uefa’s executive committee, addressed the changes after the first day of the ECA’s general assembly in Vienna on Monday.
The ECA’s formal approval is another step towards the financial sustainability rules, as they have been termed, being rubber stamped for implementation. The final decision will come at a Uefa meeting next week but is likely to be a formality.
Financial fair play was introduced in 2010 but attracted criticism for failing to curb the advantage held by the sport’s richest teams.
Under the new rules, clubs will have their spending on wages, transfers and agent fees capped at 70 per cent of their revenue. They will, however, be able to boost their spending by recouping money on player sales.
In recognition of the fact that clubs may need time to achieve that ratio, the cap is being phased in over three years. In 2023 teams will be permitted to spend 90 per cent of revenue, with 80 per cent in 2024 and 70 per cent thereafter.
The limit on permissible losses that was the key plank of financial fair play is to be retained but relaxed. Clubs will be allowed to make losses totalling €60m over three years, twice as much as before, but spending on facilities and youth and women’s programmes will not, as previously, be discounted.
Clubs that breach the rules will be liable for fines, points deductions in the new “Swiss model” format that the Champions League is set to adopt from 2024. The most severe infractions could see teams relegated from the top competition to the Europa League.