The Financial Fair Play rules are entering football to balance the books and level the playing field.
This is what we are led to believe. In reality, the new rules are ensuring that the power remains firmly with the teams at the top table.
In recent years, the only chance a team had to break the mould of the established top four was to find a wealthy Arab or Russian.
Once UEFA’s rules hit, even wealthy oligarchs will not be a weapon against the teams who serve at the top table. The aptly named ‘fair play’ rules are anything but fair.
Many have criticised Manchester City for their extraordinary spending in recent years. Their transfer policy has been described as reckless and loathsome.
Yet the only reason City have spent so much money so quickly is because they are in the last chance saloon. Sheikh Mansour had no time to slowly build a team of champions. He had to spend before the drawbridge was closed and the path to the Champions League blocked.
We won’t see such radical spending again. The rules don’t allow for huge losses any more. City have squeezed into the elite before time ran out. For the rest, it’s too late.
Take Everton as an example. It’s a club crying out for investment. The fans know that the only real chance of a title is through a takeover from a super-wealthy investor who fancies a new challenge.
Now not even this can save them. Unless Bill Kenwright strikes oil under the Gwladys Street, Everton will continue to be also-rans along with everyone else outside the elite.
It is impossible to be completely critical of the new rules. After all, the game is currently a bubble which is on the cusp of bursting. Losses into the billions cannot continue; it’s unsustainable.
However, surely there is a more measured approach which can be taken by UEFA. Football is a big enough business to survive for a few years while a period of transition takes place. These new rules could then eventually be introduced.
This won’t happen though. FFP will be introduced with many promises. In reality it will simply widen the gap between the haves and have-nots, allowing the big clubs to have the insurance of knowing that another Manchester City project will not interrupt their untouchable status. ‘Financial Fair Play’ could not be a more inaccurate term.
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