For all of UEFA President Michel Platini's "tough talk, conspicuous consumption has once again been the order of the day this summer from the gilded boulevards of Monaco to the fast-changing post-industrial landscape of east Manchester," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. Critics who claimed Financial Fair Play "will lock in the established order and increase pressure on clubs to raise ticket prices and endlessly commercialise their product now openly wonder whether it will address the problem it was created to solve." The determination "to continue to spend, spend, spend has been most obvious at newly promoted Monaco." Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev "has arrived in the principality with pockets bulging and outgunned the competition this summer, aware that his side will not yet fall under the FFP rulebook until they qualify for European competition." Under the ownership of the Qatar Investment Authority, the Paris St. Germain project "has continued apace" with the addition of players including the Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani and Brazilian defender Marquinhos for a total of £97.7M ($150M). There "are two questions." One is "whether the continued spending will see clubs fall foul of the FFP rules as they are drafted." The other is "whether the rules address the issue they were designed to" (GUARDIAN, 8/5).
