August 23, 2022

The brief from today:

Twenty teams being monitored by UEFA

UEFA are keeping a close eye on the financial situation at 20 European clubs that may be in violation of Financial Fair Play (FFP). The regulations state that teams must show a positive balance on their books—strictly from club operations over the course of three seasons. The marked a shift in policy, which prohibited wealthy owners from pumping money into clubs to offset debts, and has been a challenging task for various sides to navigate. The result of violations include: financial penalties, as well as transfer bans. According to UEFA, there are a number of sides who are flirting with this infringement currently, and among them are some notable names. Arsenal, who are currently topping the Premier League table, are one of the teams that could potentially be in breach of FFP as of the end of the 2021/22 season. The North London side haven’t officially released their financial statements for the most recent season, so UEFA are reserving judgment for the time being. That said, the current numbers available show the Gunners operating at a loss of £213 million over the past three years. This figure, combined with their total transfer outlay of £278 million since last summer, has been flagged by UEFA as problematic. Whenever such situations arise and clubs are indeed in violation of Financial Fair Play, UEFA will impose sanctions based on the severity of each case. In extreme instances, a fine, transfer ban, and exclusion from UEFA competitions could all be executed, but other scenarios could involve just one form of punishment. UEFA are currently deciding the fate of various sides that violated the guidelines for the three-year term ending with the 2020/21 season. Some of these teams are: Juventus, Roma, PSG, and Inter. In response to imposed penalties, clubs may resort to negotiations with UEFA that either result in lower fines, or avoidance of a ban from UEFA competitions. If an agreement can't be reached, then teams have been known to file appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as Manchester City did in 2020 to dodge their ban from playing in the Champions League. Of course, after the recent failed Super League experiment, teams like Juventus, who are yet to renounce their positions in the Super League and rejoin the European Club Association, won’t have access to this mediation option. Beginning in 2023, there will be new regulations implemented by UEFA that seek to curb the amount clubs are spending on transfers, wages, and agent fees. This intended limitation will be for clubs to only spend 70 percent of revenue on the aforementioned categories, and to reach that threshold UEFA will stagger the changes over a two-year period. In addition to that, clubs will also see their permitted losses over three years increase from £25 million to £50 million.

UEFA President, Ceferin, is responsible for enforcing FFP regulations at member clubs

Transfer tension at Nice

Ligue 1 side, Nice, is dealing with some tension behind the scenes involving coach, Lucien Favre, and Iain Moody. The former Crystal Palace and Cardiff City director, Moody, was brought in by Nice as an advisor for this summer’s transfer window, and he and Favre have been clashing since. After two draws and a loss, Favre is already feeling the strain on the pitch, and is not pleased with the financial backing, or decision making off of it. Apparently Moody is pursuing transfer targets that he deems fit for the club despite Favre’s resistance to the selections. It was only about three weeks ago that Aaron Ramsey joined Nice, and scored on his debut, but he is actually one of the examples of players Favre didn’t want that Moody still recruited. In addition to that, Moody is currently shopping around defender, Flavius Daniliuc, despite Favre wanting to retain the player. Of course, there are also rumblings that some of the players aren’t pleased with Favre’s training methods, so surely that doesn’t help the the Swiss manager as he contends with all the transfer market unrest.

It’s not all smiles at Nice for coach, Lucien Favre