Mega-rich football owners have been given the green light to start spending again to catch up with the game’s big clubs after an amazing U-turn by Michel Platini.
The Uefa president has announced he will this summer relax the rules he introduced to restrict money spent on transfer fees and wages.
Owners will once more be able to run up massive losses — as long as the money they put into a club to buy new players is a gift rather than entered in the books as a loan.
The decision is a victory for Sportsmail’s Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel, who has lobbied Platini for exactly that change.
It is likely to be confirmed by Uefa at the end of June — just before the summer transfer window opens — and will start a spending stampede by ambitious clubs.
It means, for instance, that Manchester City and Chelsea would now be able to compete on the open market for a superstar such as Gareth Bale.
Platini has admitted that the current straitjacket on finances has not worked.
Clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have been hit with heavy fines and had spending restrictions imposed on them under current Financial Fair Play regulations designed to limit the size of financial losses.
But after pressure from City, PSG and the two Milan giants from Italy’s Serie A, Uefa are planning changes to allow clubs to spend more freely.
Platini said yesterday: ‘The world is two-faced but we will say this openly: I think we’ll ease things. It will be the (Uefa) executive committee who will decide if it is to be eased or something like that, and the outcome will be known by the end of June.’
It was a year ago this week that City were hit with a £43million FFP fine for overspending, as well as having transfer limits imposed and Champions League squad restrictions.
Although two-thirds of the fine was suspended, City were limited when it came to buying players and had their wage bill capped.
Now if they want to make a £200m-plus bid for Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, new-look FFP will make it easier. Sheik Mansour, City’s owner, has a £17billion personal fortune and theoretical access to an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund of £493bn. PSG owners Qatar Sports Investments have access to sovereign funds of £194bn.
Platini suggested key Italian involvement in the lobbying for change, saying: ‘The Italians wanted (FFP) eased.’
One source told Sportsmail: ‘Uefa know FFP has helped to reduce some costs in a beneficial way. But they can also see that the richest clubs are becoming locked into dominant positions and any club outside that group has a shrinking chance of ever competing.
‘Allowing more investment could alleviate that.’ One factor forcing Uefa’s hand is an ongoing legal threat by clubs wanting to have FFP watered down and lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, leading the legal action, said: ‘We welcome the announcement of a changes in line with the demands expressed by our clients.’
But the change will infuriate some clubs, not least Arsenal and Liverpool, owned respectively by Americans Stan Kroenke and John W Henry. Both men supported FFP and cost controls. Neither club would comment.
Gianni Infantino, Uefa general secretary, said: ‘Our objective remains to ensure the sustainability of European club football.’ – Daily Mail