Author: Soorya G
UEFA has fined several soccer clubs, including Barcelona and Manchester United, for breaching financial fair play regulations for the 2022/23 season. Manchester United were fined 300,000 euros (US$335,000) for failing to comply with the break-even requirement, which seeks to restrict clubs’ financial losses. Meanwhile, Spanish champions Barcelona received a 500,000 euro sanction over allegations of improper losses, in which the Blaugrana’s books considered the loss of intangible assets, something that is not within the structure of the system. While some clubs, such as Inter Milan, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Roma and Marseille, managed to avoid penalties by meeting the targets set out in their agreements with UEFA, Belgium’s Royal Antwerp and Turkey’s Trabzonspor suffered the heaviest fines, of two million euros each.
Introduced in 2010, the FFP rules impose a limit on clubs reporting losses of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period. The recently concluded 2022/23 season served as the final year for these regulations before the new rules to be implemented came into force by the governing body.
Manchester United’s fine is the result of their failure to pass UEFA’s balancing test, which serves as a barrier to excessive spending by selected clubs with money power. According to the regulations, clubs can make a maximum loss of 5 million euros over a three-year monitoring period.
“This reflected a change in the way UEFA adjusted COVID-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognize only 15 million euros of the 281 million euros of lost revenue due to the pandemic in the FFP calculation. After the pandemic, club revenues have recovered strongly and are expected to reach a record level in the current financial year. The club continues to support the application of rules to promote financial fair play and sustainability in national and European soccer.” UEFA said about the fines imposed on Manchester United.
Under the previous version of the rules, clubs could suffer a maximum loss of 30 million euros if they were adequately covered by an owner. These fines underline UEFA’s commitment to upholding the rules of financial fair play, promoting financial stability and sustainability within soccer.