Manchester City’s Stevan Jovetic (R) vies for the ball with Crystal Palace’s Mile Jedinak (L) during their English Premier League match at Selhurst Park, London, on Sunday. (EPA)
AFP/London
Premier League title contenders Manchester City and Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are among a clutch of clubs set to be punished this week for failing to comply with UEFA’s financial fairplay (FFP) rules.
UEFA’s financial control board (CFCB) is meeting today and tomorrow to examine the sanction packages for City and PSG and the other culprits.
European football’s governing body is expected to impose heavy fines, and a wage cap on the squads to appear in next season’s Champions League.
The sanctions packages are understood to be part of a settlement offer to the clubs, which they can accept, reject or try to negotiate ahead of the meeting.
Both City and UEFA have refused to comment but it is understood the relevant sanction in the FFP rules set to be applied is: “Restriction on the number of players that a club may register for participation in UEFA competitions, including a financial limit on the overall aggregate cost of the employee benefits expenses of players registered on the A-list for the purposes of UEFA club competitions.”
The idea of the sanctions is that a restriction in the expenditure on players by both clubs who have breached the rules will help them in their efforts to comply with the limits on losses in future seasons.
Clubs can lose up to 45 million euros (£37million) over the last two years under UEFA’s rules. City accumulated deficits of £97.9million in 2012 and £51.6million last year, but were able to write off some sums spent on facilities, youth development and a number of other items.
Both Qatari-owned PSG and Abu Dhabi-owned City have a number of sponsorship deals related to their owners which the CFCB had to determine were of fair market value.
PSG effectively wiped out its annual losses of 130 million euros (£107.4million) by announcing a back-dated sponsorship deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority worth up to 200 million euros a year.
UEFA president Michel Platini has already said he expects none of the clubs involved, believed to number around 20, will be barred from European competition next season.
