Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger commented on recent efforts by UEFA to have all clubs adhere to its Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The manager, who may or may not have inside information on the matter, claims that changes to the regulations are to be made within the next 12 months.
It’s no secret that modern football is largely dominated by very rich clubs, who have the finances to employ the world’s top players and staff. Even so, most fans would also agree that certain regulations have to be put in place so that the competitions can offer enough of a fair chance to all participants.
By Eduard Banulescu
Neymar’s recent transfer to PSG, for a record transfer fee of 222 million Euro, raised a lot of questions regarding the existing Financial Fair Play and how these are being employed. The higher reputation clubs especially seemed to be encouraging UEFA to take action against the Ligue 1 side.
Arsene Wenger says that ultimately the decision has to be made that either a set of rules should be put in place, which will need to be followed by all clubs, or, that no rules should exist regarding spending, and clubs should be free to do as they so choose.
However, Wenger is confident that within the next 12 year there will be important changes made to these regulations. The Frenchman points to the fact that even the political sector is showing concern regarding overspending in pro sports.
“Something will happen. It is for the first time that politically the German prime minister came out and the president of UEFA came out and I think politically something will happen in the next 12 months to regulate and limit the transfer amount,” the manager says.
“You have to go one of two ways. Regulate it properly, or leave it completely open. But you cannot be in between. That is where we are at the moment. That is only to the advantage of some clubs who can deal with rules in a legal way. The regulation has to be stricter and clearer, or open it completely: you can do what you want, provided you can guarantee you have the money to pay,” Wenger said about the existing options.
In a nutshell, the FFP rules state that a club’s losses over a three-year period must not exceed the sum of 30 million Euros. Now clearly there are some loopholes around this problem, which is one thing that managers like Arsene Wenger or Jurgen Klopp have pointed out in the past.
Overall, since their introduction, the regulations have had some measure of success in decreasing the overall level of club debt, especially in competitions like the English Premier League.
Neymar’s transfer to PSG raised a lot of questions about the future spending on football transfers. The ripple effects of the deal were felt almost immediately.
The real question is whether this sort of spending can remain manageable for all clubs in the future. Perhaps Wenger is right that new regulations can be successfully enforced on every club.
Either these regulations must be employed or Financial Fair Play regulations would be better eliminated altogether.
Eduard Banulescu is a European football fan, writer and musician. He contributes music, sports and cryptocurrency articles on www.footballcoin.io and www.alt77.com. He hopes you enjoy the quality of his articles here at The Sports Bank.