Sport
Does Financial Fair Play work or is this the end for FFP?
RIP FFP was trending on social media this week as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) opted to side with Manchester City over UEFA, enabling Pep Guardiola’s side to escape a two-year ban from European competition. So does Financial Fair Play work and what are the impacts of this landmark ruling?
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described the decision to overturn the suspension as “not a good day for football”, while Tottenham’s head coach Jose Mourinho, Guardiola’s old La Liga rival from their days in charge Real Madrid and Barcelona, said the ruling was “disgraceful” and a “disaster”.
La Liga chief Javier Tebas has also joined in with the growing row, claiming that “everyone knows” that City have broken the Financial Fair Play regulations.
Quite why Tebas felt the need to get involved in something that does not particularly involve him is hard to explain, but there is no doubt that the future of financial fair play has now been cast into severe doubt.
FFP on the backburner due to COVID-19
Manchester City seem set to spend heavily when the summer transfer window opens at the end of the season, with reports suggesting Guardiola could be permitted to spend up to £150 million.
Bayern Munich’s versatile defender David Alaba is rumoured to be a target, with City also believed to be searching for a Leroy Sane replacement and a striker to plan ahead for the expected departure of Sergio Aguero at the end of his contract. Guardiola may also need to sign someone to fill the boots of departing club legend David Silva, though the City manager has indicated he will be looking towards the emerging English talent Phil Foden to step up in the absence of the veteran midfielder the club’s fans call ‘El Mago’.
City, who were fined £49 million by UEFA all the way back in 2014 over a previous FFP breach, do not have to worry about the spending regulations for the time being either. UEFA confirmed last month that it has temporarily relaxed the rules in order to give clubs some breathing space as they try to come to terms with the financial impact of the Coronavirus crisis.
UEFA said the body made the decision as part of a series of emergency measures to “give clubs more time to quantify and account for unanticipated loss of revenues”. It remains unclear when fans will be able to return to stadiums and boost clubs’ matchday incomes, with the start of the 2020-21 season seeming likely to be held behind closed doors.
Clubs like Liverpool have signalled they do not intend to invest heavily in players, the Premier League champions having seemingly pulled out of a deal to sign RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner. The Germany striker will instead spend next season leading the line for Chelsea. The Blues, like City, have been tipped to make the most of the FFP break with heavy investment.
Does Financial Fair Play work or is it now dead in the water?
With the top clubs effectively given the green light to spend whatever they want over the course of the next year, some experts believe FFP is now unworkable and could be scrapped by UEFA.
The regulations have been far from popular, with some clubs such as City believing they are designed to stop those backed by ‘new money’ from breaking into the European elite group of clubs containing the likes of Barca, Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus.
UEFA can point to some successes with FFP. Generally, clubs are carrying substantially less debt than they were when it was brought in a few years ago. While punishments have regularly been rowed back, or suspensions cancelled entirely as in the case of City, it has had an impact.
Whether clubs will now take FFP seriously, after City embarrassed UEFA with a successful appeal against the Champions League ban, is something that will remain to be seen. But it would not be too much of a surprise if FFP were soon to slip quietly away into the dead of night.
Asked this week if FFP was now dead as a concept, Mourinho replied: “Yes.” While only time will tell if the Spurs boss is right, City’s victory over UEFA suggests the era of Financial Fair Play could be over.
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