Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations have been very much back in the news this summer.
Paris Saint-Germain’s world record move for Neymar – which saw the Qatari-backed Ligue 1 club meet a £200m buyout clause in the Brazilian’s contract – has seen questions raised about the the rules, which were put in place to prevent clubs from spending more money than they earned.
It’s now emerged that the Spanish football league has written to Uefa to ask them to investigate whether Manchester City, who have also spent big over the course of the summer, have breached the FFP rules.
As highlighted by the BBC, Javier Tebas, La Liga’s president, has claimed that City and PSG’s “funding by state-aid distorts European competitions and creates an inflationary spiral that is irreparably harming the football industry.”
City were bought by The Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 and have since become a major footballing force after hundreds of millions of pounds were invested in the club. Their summer spend of £215m was greater than any other club.
A statement released by La Liga on Monday explained that they had sent two letters to Uefa: one regarding PSG’s spending; the other relating to City.
The statement explains that the two clubs have benefited from sponsorship deals that ‘make no economic sense and lack any fair value’.
