http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/05/ue...to-arsenal.html

 

Some time tomorrow in a nondescript, modern building overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland, football’s great and good, also known as UEFA’s Executive Committee, will meet to implement the snappily titled Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. This vision was first given the green light in UEFA’s September 2009 meeting and they are now expected to approve their March 2010 draft proposal, which requires clubs to break-even from the start of the 2012-13 season, if they wish to qualify for European competitions like the Champions League. In the slow-moving world of football bureaucracy, it is striking how quickly UEFA has managed to translate the initial concerns of President Michel Platini, who had described clubs borrowing to buy sporting success as “financial doping”, into a practical, workable document.

 

UEFA’s aim is no less than “protecting the long-term viability and sustainability of European club football”. Under this financial fair play concept, clubs will have to balance their books and operate within their financial means, thereby helping restore stability to the European game. Clubs will be required to spend no more than they earn to “introduce more discipline and rationality in club finances and to decrease pressure on players’ salaries and transfer fees.” They will be forced to settle their liabilities on a timely basis, but will also be encouraged to invest for the good of the club in areas such as youth development and infrastructure (stadium, training ground).

 

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Will this rule bring clubs profits?

Edited October 1, 201014 yr by Dust2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oc...ester-city-uefa

 

Mansour himself reaffirmed his commitment in a personal letter published with today's annual report, and he is certain to invest further to absorb this year's £121m loss and those of future years.

 

The rules begin next year, 2011-12, allowing clubs to make only €45m (£39m) total losses in the three years to 2013-14. City, with their all-star team, mostly packed stadium and revivalist buzz, are sprinting into this restrained environment bearing a loss of £121m, set to rise again next year.

 

Uefa's rules allow for discussion, stating that if a club can show it has a viable plan, is moving towards breaking even, and its debts are not excessive, it can be given more time. However, it insists it did not do all the grinding work of introducing the 85 pages of rules, then to wave through clubs in flagrant breach of them. Gianni Infantino, Uefa's general secretary, said: "There may be intermediate measures; we would have to ask why, maybe there would be a warning, but we would bar clubs in breach of the rules from playing in the Champions League or the Europa League. Otherwise, we lose all credibility."

 

Cook, publishing the annual report, stressed City's positive investment in 106 new non-playing staff, improved "supporter experience" and the community focus, but he accepted that meeting the financial fair‑play rules is a major challenge. The aim is for the spending on players to produce success, including qualification for the Champions League this season, which will generate substantially more income. A major emphasis on the academy is intended to produce graduates of sufficient quality to supplant older stars such as Patrick Vieira and Yaya Touré, on significantly less than their galactic wages.

 

"The plan is to grow the financial revenues further, control costs, and have young players come through eventually to replace some senior players," Cook said. "We want to be sustainable, and intend to comply with financial fair play."

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/08/pr...rs-success.html

 

The Price of Inter success

 

The last available accounts are for the year ending 30 June 2009 and these report an enormous loss of €154 million (£132 million). Just a blip? Not a bit of it – the previous year’s loss was very nearly as bad at €148 million and the 2007 loss was even worse at €208 million. That gives a cumulative loss of €509 million in just three years – over half a billion!

 

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