UEFA has defended its Financial Fair Play rules after a claim by one of Europe’s leading football lawyers that the governing body "would be unlikely to win a legal challenge," according to the London EVENING STANDARD. Jean-Louis Dupont -- part of the legal team that won the landmark Bosman ruling in the '90s and who led the case that forced FIFA and UEFA to compensate clubs for players on int'l duty -- "claims FFP will breach European competition law." The European Commission has agreed to the new laws, but Dupont said that the European Court of Justice "may take a different view." Dupont said, “Some of Europe’s biggest clubs are, unsurprisingly, the loudest supporters of rules that entrench their dominance. The time is right for a strong reminder from the EU’s anti-trust authorities that football, like any other multi-billion euro industry, must comply with the law." Dupont argues that the best way UEFA could improve the financial balance is by imposing a “luxury tax” on high-spending clubs such as Man City and Paris St. Germain (EVENING STANDARD, 3/27).
