By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – European clubs continue to ignore the warnings about balancing their books despite the threat of sanctions says UEFA’s chief trouble-shooter.
Former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene (pictured top) told the European Club Association (ECA) meeting in Geneva that some clubs are still not heeding warnings about Financial Fair Play regulations.
“I am still very worried about the current situation,” Dehaene, Chairman of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), told the clubs during their annual meeting according to an ECA statement released afterwards.
“The Financial Fair Play regulations have been known for more than two years, but I have the impression that some clubs still need to do their homework.”
Twenty-three clubs, including Europa League holders and Super Cup winners Atlético Madrid, have had their prize money withheld by UEFA pending further investigation, in the first raft of FFP sanctions imposed by UEFA for failing to meet the rules on so-called “overdue payables”.
Atlético Madrid and Champions League entrant Málaga are among those given until September 30 to satisfy UEFA they have a strategy in place for paying a combined €30 million (£24 million/$38.6 million) in unpaid players’ wages and transfer fees.
Dehaene’s comments suggest there could well be more penalties to come as FFP starts to bite with Champions League and Europa League spots under threat, a situation that is not lost on ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
“ECA Members unanimously endorsed the Financial Fair Play project back in 2010,” Rummenigge (pictured above) said.
“However, it seems that quite a few clubs have not understood the message.
“Time has come to take the new rules seriously.”
Significantly, no representative from big-spending Qatar-backed Paris Saint Germain was present to hear the words of warning but it is clear the ECA is not happy with the way the French club seems to be bucking the trend of belt-tightening.
PSG recently brought in striker Zlatan Ibrahimović and defender Thiago Silva from seven-time European champions AC Milan and Rummenigge told a press conference in Geneva: “I believe AC Milan merit respect in the football world.
“It is much more difficult to go the way of AC Milan than to go the way of maybe a French club, for example.”
Meanwhile, the ECA has taken the unusual step of choosing Qatar for their next General Assembly in February 2013.
Insiders reject the notion that the move has anything to do with the idea of switching the 2022 FIFA World Cup to winter, a debate Europe’s clubs feel strongly about, or about the Middle East’s increasing influence in European football.
An ECA statement said Qatar had been chosen simply to “celebrate the landmark” of the organisation’s fifth anniversary by inviting a number of clubs from outside Europe to Doha (pictured above) to participate in a special workshop.
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