By David Gold
September 11 – A number of teams with outstanding payments have had their prize money from UEFA withheld pending a further investigation.
There are 23 clubs affected in total, the most high profile of whom are Spanish sides Atlético Madrid (pictured top) and Malaga.
Three teams from Bosnia and Romania, two each from Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, and clubs in Bulgaria, Israel, Macedonia, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Russia are affected by the ruling.
Other high profile teams involved include Rubin Kazan, Sporting Lisbon and Fenerbahçe.
The sanction comes from the first part of the Financial Fair Play measures brought in by UEFA, which required clubs competing in UEFA competitions to supply details of overdue payments by June 30 this year.
The announcement was made after the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), chaired by Jean-Luc Dehaene, the former Prime Minister of Belgium.
Dehaene has spoken tough on club finances previously, and insisted that UEFA would scrutinise sponsorship deals made by teams with companies with close links to their owners, such as Manchester City’s partnership with Etihad.
“Following its last meeting in August 2012, the CFCB investigatory chamber has identified that important overdue payables towards other clubs, and/or towards employees or social/tax authorities existed in 23 cases,” UEFA said in a statement.
The measure will remain in force, UEFA said, until payments have been made in full or a final decision made by the CFCB body.
It has requested updated information from the clubs concerned by the end of September.
One of the most intriguing cases is that of Malaga, the only team sanctioned who are competing in the Champions League this year.
Despite being owned by a Qatari billionaire, the club’s financial situation has been a grave concern in recent months.
The club has been unwilling to spend as much money as it has done in previous years, citing the Financial Fair Play rules, and has sold key players such as Santi Cazorla (pictured above) and Salomón Rondón for figures below their market value in a bid to slash costs.
The withholding of prize money will be a blow to the club’s financial stability, and will act as a warning shot to teams such as Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City.
In addition, UEFA taking today’s measure is a significant warning for teams who spend huge sums that they cannot afford.
It comes in the middle of the annual general assembly of the European Clubs Association (ECA), the body that represents the continent’s top clubs and lobbies UEFA and FIFA for their interests.
Of the clubs penalised today, 14 are members of the ECA, who are discussing a number of issues in Geneva, including the implementation of the UEFA Financial Fair Play initiative.
The Financial Fair Play rules require teams to balance income and expenditure, and allow for losses of only €45 million (£38 million/$59 million) over the first two years of accounts analysed.
In time this figure will be reduced to nil, but teams like Manchester City and Chelsea regularly post huge losses, while Paris St Germain have spent even more than either.
A number of Russian teams, such as Anzhi Makhachkala, have also invested heavily in a bid to become a European force in recent times.
By contrast, some of Europe’s traditional powers have been ruthlessly cost cutting.
In Italy, AC Milan have let go a number of veterans such as Clarence Seedorf, Marc van Bommel and Alessandro Nesta, as well as sanctioning the sales of their two best players, Zlatan Ibrahimović (pictured below) and Thiago Silva to Paris St Germain, as they bid to cut their losses.
Inter Milan have also been forced to offload a number of older heads such as Brazilian trio Julio Cesar, Lúcio and Maicon as they look to meet UEFA requirements.
Meanwhile in England, Liverpool are so determined to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules that they would not meet Fulham’s relatively modest asking price for American winger Clint Dempsey at the end of the transfer window, and even Manchester City spent cautiously this summer.
It is notable that none of the biggest spenders in Europe are on the list of teams sanctioned, and it remains to be seen whether UEFA will go through with the sanction following the final decision, or whether it is intended as simply a public statement of intent.
From the 2013-2014 season, UEFA is threatening to sanction teams who do not comply with the new rules, including by preventing them taking part in their competitions if necessary.
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