The European bureaucrats are at it again. Yesterday, UEFA’s Executive Committee rubberstamped a set of new regulatory measures designed to compel clubs to operate within their means. The new fiscal rules, which will take effect from 2012, are intended to facilitate financial and competitive fair play, meaning that clubs will (in theory) be competing on a more level playing field. The importance of promoting financial wellbeing is paramount; a survey of 650 clubs conducted by UEFA found that 50% of clubs were operating at a loss, and 20% were making massive losses. Perturbed by the meltdown of Portsmouth this season, Michel Platini and co insist that clubs must stick to the ‘break-even’ requirement, a requirement that will prohibit clubs from spending more than they earn through revenue.
Eager to prevent future benefactor-fuelled successes such as that of Chelsea (benefactor cash injections will be restricted), the new UEFA regulations are intended to make domestic leagues and European tournaments more competitive. However, genuine concerns have emerged that this may not be the case when the rules come into effect. Many believe that the policies may serve to reinforce existing ‘cartels’, thus making it harder for ‘smaller’ clubs to break into the upper echelons of their domestic leagues and into Europe. The top clubs are unsurprisingly the clubs with the largest financial revenues. This fact allows such privileged clubs to continue spending more money on the world’s best players, subsequently ensuring that their places within the upper reaches of domestic leagues are retained.
Other articles I have read on this matter have highlighted how clubs like Fulham will suffer from this ruling. A comparatively small club, their recent run in the Europa League was bankrolled (to some extent) by chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed. Under the new regulations, ‘fairytale’ runs like this will be harder to achieve; Fulham make a relatively small income, but are funded by donations from Al-Fayed. Breaking into the European spots will be harder still for a club of Fulham’s stature.
The aims behind UEFA’s latest set of regulations are undeniably admirable, but will they have the desired effect when they come into force?
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