Is UEFA relaxing its financial regulations to the detriment of Germany, Spain and England? There is a risk of further regression in the clubs’ struggle for economic stability.
Will UEFA’s sustainability rules change next season – to the detriment of Bundesliga clubs? Bongarts/Getty Images
According to kicker information, the UEFA club licensing committee responsible for “Financial Sustainability” is meeting these days. There is a proposal according to which excessive taxes and social security contributions should be extracted up to a certain coefficient from the so-called squad cost rule, all of which consider the squad costs. These now play a central role in the financial rules of the Confederacy.
Share of compensation payments was reduced
Background: In the summer of 2022, the sustainability rules replaced the Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP). Since then, the following applies: Clubs are only allowed to invest a maximum of 70 percent of their football-related income into the squad; deficits can be offset to a certain, small extent with money from an owner. In order to soften the transition for “high-wage payers” and investor associations, 90 percent was allowed in 2022/23 and 80 percent in 2023/24. The step to 70 percent would be due next season.
But this would now be softened by the new consideration of income tax and social security contributions. That would be bad for German clubs; in the future, double-digit millions in expenses would be neutralized, which from a German perspective would have a “reducing expenditure” effect. Both the German football league DFL and the Spanish La Liga have contacted the committee to prevent the reconsideration. There had already been such ideas in the run-up to the introduction of the sustainability rules in 2022, but the DFL and La Liga prevented them. Whether this will work again seems rather questionable. After all: The English Premier League is also reportedly moving in line with the Germans and the Spanish.
Italy and France would benefit from the latest easing
A UEFA report recently showed that some clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, had accumulated significant deficits despite financial rules that were massively weakened during the corona pandemic. This was sanctioned and PSG was fined 65 million euros – but 55 million are only on probation. The CEO of the French capital club is the boss of PSG owner Qatar Sports Investment, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also UEFA’s business partner as the head of rights holder Bein-Sports. And as chairman of the ECA, Al-Khelaifi is also influential within UEFA; after all, the greeting club association and UEFA manage the billion-dollar media rights to the important club competitions in a joint venture. Incidentally, the following would benefit from the latest easing: Italy and France.
2024-04-29 12:59:21
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