Manchester City and PSG Offered Settlements for Breaking UEFA FFP Rules

Title chasing Manchester City and French Lique 1 champions-elect Paris Saint-Germain have been offered settlements from UEFA for breaking their Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board (CFCB) made the offer to the Premier League side and PSG on Monday, along with other European clubs who are deemed to have broken the rules.

According to reports there are fewer than 20 clubs involved, who can either accept the sanction or attempt to negotiate a lesser punishment.

Punishments could include a reprimand, a fine or restrictions on the club’s playing squad for the Champions League or Europa League next season.

UEFA are making their first FFP rulings based on accounts for clubs from the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. PSG and City have been backed by wealthy owners and have invested heavily in the transfer markets over the period of those two seasons.

The news means that the most powerful sanction, exclusion from European competitions, will not be handed down to any of the clubs involved this time around.

Lucrative sponsorship deals

One way that clubs have tried to get around FFP is with lucrative sponsorship deals, such as the one between PSG and the Qatar Tourist Authority.

That huge deal has come under scrutiny and UEFA President Michel Platini commented: “I will say simply that Paris St Germain’s financial model is distinctive and atypical. That image contract with the QTA, the tourism office of Qatar, is innovative, that’s all I can say.

“But is it viable? Is the value of the contract correct? These are questions that the experts must decide.”

UEFA risk upsetting compliant clubs

In a recent blog post, Daniel Geey, Senior Associate for Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP and an expert on football law said the settlement agreement could upset other clubs.

In his blog, Geey said: “A number of clubs have made public statements about the need to punish clubs who breach the break-even provisions. If the CFCB is settling with clubs in breach rather than letting the adjudicatory chamber handle the breach, a number of compliant clubs may well be annoyed that such a route has been made available.

“Some owners may believe UEFA should not be providing this new avenue for clubs at this late stage.”

To learn more about UEFA’s settlement provisions, read Daniel Geey’s blog here.

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