Fair Play, days numbered? UEFA evaluates new measures inspired by the NBA

Football is about to face one of the most significant changes in recent years. According to The Times , UEFA is considering replacing Financial Fair Play with a new method similar to that used by North American competitions such as the NFL and NBA: namely, the introduction of salary caps and luxury rates.

2022 – The new frontier could open in 2022/2023. The proposal will be presented at the next UEFA convention in Switzerland, scheduled for next September. At the moment, The Times puts forward a series of hypotheses related to the new course: clubs will have to commit a maximum of 70% of their annual revenue in salaries. If they did, they would not be expelled from the competition, but they were forced to pay a “luxury tax” to be allocated to UEFA funds. The European body would use this surplus for the distribution of money between the rest of the clubs, thus strengthening the average level.

NBA – We work, therefore, on the NBA model. In this regard, the Times does not provide further details on a proposal that may be in the start-up phase or not yet filtered by the European body. But the existence of a system studied on the canvas of the American Basketball League facilitates competitiveness and balance between the franchises. In the best basketball league in the world, teams can pay their players up to a certain amount, although this is not dependent on income. It is therefore natural that the majority is careful not to exceed the established limits. It remains to be seen whether UEFA will allow limits to be exceeded with the punishment of the luxury tax alone or whether, on the contrary, it will choose a tougher line, such as not approving players’ contracts. The feeling remains that Financial Fair Play may have its days numbered. Designed to make football fairer and more sustainable 11 years, it has left a streak of controversy along the way that is too long to ignore.