Man City "have been given more time to accept a punishment" for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations after it emerged that "they were one of nine clubs found guilty of doing so," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. UEFA confirmed on Friday night that nine teams "were facing action" from its Club Financial Control Body, with City and Paris St. Germain "to be among them." UEFA "had planned to conclude negotiations with guilty clubs" by Thursday, but they "have dragged on longer than expected and will not be completed" until this week. The CFCB "is hoping the additional time will prevent clubs from rejecting the punishments before the nine sides are formally named." Man City and UEFA "both declined to comment on Friday night on whether the Premier League title favourites had agreed a sanction, which initially included a cut in their Champions League squad next season and a heavy fine" (TELEGRAPH, 5/2). In London, Ian Herbert reported the potential for rival clubs to challenge Man City’s place in next season’s Champions League "is more widespread than previously thought." CSKA Moscow -- "the club at loggerheads with them five months ago" -- is one of those "entitled to mount a legal challenge this week." Financial Fair Play rules gave a “directly affected party” 10 days to appeal any deal if Man City is in breach of the guidelines. Rival British clubs said that they are "reserving judgement on what to do." It "had been thought that only those who miss out on a Premier League top four place could appeal." However, now it has emerged that even those English sides who have secured Champions League football plus CSKA Moscow and Czech side Viktoria Plzen, which Man City eliminated in this season’s group stage, "could each mount a challenge" (INDEPENDENT, 5/3). In London, Owen Gibson reported UEFA had originally said that 76 clubs "merited further investigation" under rules that limit losses to £37M ($62M) over a two-year period. None of the nine clubs is believed to have been told of any proposed sanction, though they will have a good idea given that the negotiations are part of a "plea bargaining" process under which they have been asked to accept their punishment. PSG and Man City "are among the clubs judged to have failed the break-even test and that both are likely to face a combination of financial and sporting sanctions" (GUARDIAN, 5/2). The ANI reported Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger wants UEFA "to issue strong financial fair play (FFP) penalties" to the clubs who do not follow the rules. He added that if the rules are not respected, they would "feel let down." Wenger said that "there are rules to apply for the FFP, which aims to ensure that over the long term clubs only spend what they earn and also ensures that they pay their taxes and debts on time." Wenger said that he "wants to see these rules respected, because if it is not then the FFP will have problems to be respected in the future because everyone will just not consider it at all" (ANI, 5/3).
LOOKING AT THE RULES: The BBC reported the underlying aim of these rules "is to ensure that over the long term clubs only spend what they earn, while also ensuring that they pay their taxes and debts on time." However, experts say that far from being cut and dried, the rules "are full of grey areas which seem to allow wiggle room for wealthy clubs to avoid the harshest sanction -- a ban from European competition." Daniel Geey of legal firm Field Fisher Waterhouse said, "I think one of the most controversial aspects of FFP is the settlement procedure, where clubs can in effect plea bargain with UEFA over the sanctions they face." Geey also believes that the historic nature of the financial reporting system means that UEFA "is not as nimble as it could be in staying abreast of club spending." Geey: "Ideally, UEFA would like to sanction a club during the current season they are playing in" (BBC, 5/1).
