London: English Premier League clubs and others must stop amassing huge debts and new regulations will be drawn up to regulate team finances, UEFA president Michael Platini said yesterday.
In an interview in The Daily Telegraph the Frenchman said a UEFA committee would meet next week to begin devising new rules to protect the financial welfare of European clubs.
“We have three years to regulate the situation,” he said. “The idea is not to kill the clubs but to help them have better balance. The philosophy to participate in our competitions is you must not spend more money than you receive. “If (Manchester) United have 300 million euros ($439 million) and they spend 400 million—no! If Liverpool pay 60 million euros (interest) every year to the banks, it’s a lot of money. “Every owner has asked me for a better philosophy, for better transparency. In Germany, debts are not accepted. In England they are.”
Liverpool, who are co-owned by Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks have debts estimated at around 245 million sterling ($399 million), a situation Platini says makes them very unattractive to prospective buyers. “By putting in new rules we will protect the business of (Chelsea owner Roman) Abramovich, Massimo Moratti (at Inter Milan) or Manchester United owner (Malcolm) Glazer.
“I am sure they want to sell but who will buy clubs with so many debts?” - Reuters |
