UEFA fine Barcelona & Man Utd over financial breaches

United were fined 300,000 euros ($335,000) for failing to meet the break-even requirement that attempts to limit the losses made by clubs. Spanish champions Barcelona were hit with a 500,000 euro sanction for including profits from sales of intangible assets, which are not relevant income under the regulations, to balance their books.

The Red Devils got away with the relatively small fine, as UEFA found their breach to be "minor" in their statement. The statement also reports that Turkish club Konyaspor and Cypriot club Apoel FC were each hit with €100,000 fines for similar minor break-even deficits.

The statement from Man United said the club "accepts this fine for what UEFA acknowledges to be a minor technical breach of its previous Financial Fair Play rules. This reflected a change in the way that UEFA adjusted for Covid-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognise only €15m (£12.8m) of the €281m (£240.5m) of revenues lost due to the pandemic within the FFP calculation."

FFP rules, which were introduced in 2010, have allowed clubs to report losses of no more than 30 million euros over a three-year period. Last season was the final year those regulations will be used by UEFA before new licensing and sustainability regulations are eased in over the next three seasons.

Champions League finalists Inter Milan, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Roma and Marseille escaped sanction after meeting targets set by a UEFA settlement agreement. Belgian club Royal Antwerp and Turkish side Trabzonspor were hit with the biggest fines of two million euros each.

 

July 14, 2023