By Paul Nicholson
June 14 – Big spending Paris St. Germain have passed UEFA’s financial fair play (FFP) investigation for 2015, 2016 and 2017 but the club remains under the microscope for 2018 and could be forced to raise to €60 million through player sales to meet the regulations to avoid further scrutiny.
Failure to meet FFP rules could mean sanctions including exclusion from the Champions League.
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Investigatory Chamber issued a statement on 12 clubs that it had been monitoring regarding the breakeven requirements to meet FFP regulations.
The CFCB said it had “decided to close the investigation into PSG” having looked at transfer contracts and sponsorships, including adjusting those sponsorship to reflect what it felt was “fair” value.
“The break-even result of the club remains within acceptable deviation for the financial years ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017,” said the statement.
But it CFCB went on to say: “The financial impact of transfer activities as from the 2017 summer – up to and including the upcoming transfer window – and compliance with the break-even requirement for the 2018 financial year will remain under close scrutiny.”
This period takes into account the €222 million signing of Neymar from Barcelona and the potential transfer fee of €200 million for Kylian Mbappe from Monaco. Although player contracts can be amortised over the length of the contract they still put major pressure on the FFP rules for PSG.
The Financial Times reported a source close to the club saying that they had been told they needed to raise €60 million (with player sales being the only way this can be achieved) by the end of the month to meet the FFP regulations
PSG are known to have a number of potential transfers lined up that would enable them to balance the books – notably the sale of Goncalo Guedes.
Galatasaray and Maccabi Tel Aviv sanctioned
Not all the clubs were so lucky with both Galatasaray SK and Maccabi Tel Aviv ruled not to be in compliance with the break-even requirement.
Galatasary have been hit with a €15 million fine which will be deducted from their European competition revenues. They have also agreed to a maximum break-even deficit of €20 million in financial year ending in 2019 and €10 million for the financial year ending in 2020.
Maccabi Tel Aviv came off a bit lighter with a €1 million fine to be deducted from European competition earnings and agrees to report a maximum break-even deficit of €20 million for the financial year ending in 2018 and €10 million in financial year ending in 2019.
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