Many European clubs have until been known for their mounting debts; perhaps many of them were on the edge of a bankruptcy and then European governing body UEFA took a strong corrective action called imposing Financial Fail Play whereby no club could spend more money than its income, which means, almost every club had to shorten its exaggerating buying to meet the strict requirements. These policies had become a headache for many clubs who, initially, did not take these norms seriously, but when UEFA threatened them for immediate sanctions, they had to follow the rules as far as possible. Now, the results are revealing how accurate governing body was coz according to latest financial data of 237 clubs affiliated to UEFA, a total loss has seen a drastic reduction to what it has been before FFP. Accordingly, total amount of loss residing in European clubs’ balance sheets is now €1.1 billion which is around 36% less than its YoY figures. Moreover, overdue payables are also lowered considerably which is a good sign for a healthy future of most of the European clubs, and guess who is commending himself for the success, it is none other than much deserving UEFA president Platini who said after looking at the results, “Financial fair play is not just a whim of the president. It is also the wish of the European football family and political bodies to come up with a regulation to counter this scourge.”
Once these financial details are thoroughly analyzed by the governing body, it will start penalizing clubs who failed to comply with the new financial rules, and then, we’ll see more problems in the making coz suffering cubs will obviously go to the judicial route to seek a bailout, and if we look at the historical facts, almost every club who gets a sanction, will appeal against the decision. UEFA knows this, and that is why it is holding a meet in Dubrovnik where its executive committee will discuss how to refrain these unnecessary appeals.
Platini said about this, “It was a very difficult summer for our legal department. Clubs were playing, not playing, then playing again. Whenever a club is not happy it can appeal, would it not be better to suspend a team starting the following year … rather than for a competition that is already under way? It’s bothersome when the draw is disrupted and bad for UEFA’s image.”