UEFA set to ratify new financial fair play rules

[Rammyblue]

Realistically all clubs have five years to get their houses in order. Provided by then we are established in top 4 we will have nothing to worry about. Any teams outside top four when these rules and regulations come in will NEVER get into CL. It will become closed shop and those that are in it will get richer whilst those outside will only ever have a chance of getting in if they invest heavily in Stadia, hotels, acadamies etc., which will take years. These rules are to keep the top clubs happy no one else, they will have to contend with Europa league.

[john68]

Bob,
If push comes to shove, whether UeFA fold or not, it is the big clubs who hold the aces. The governing body are only as strong as the clubs that back them. The Football league were powerless to stop the Premier League being formed and in both codes of rugby, the ruling bodies were forced to accept the will of their bigger clubs.
I have no doubt that a breakaway would be massively successful financially but agree that UeFA will fall over quicker than a Tranaldo dive, just as they did at the beginning of the CL era.

With regards to the rags, I think much will depend on how politically and financially powerful they are when crunch time arrives. Their position is quite precarious. It will be increasingly difficult for them to stay in the top four and dropping out will have major financial repercussions for them. Personally, I think that time could be as early as next season.

[Exiled]

I found this thread on VillaTalk quite interesting.

http://www.villatalk.com/index.php?name ... highlight=

Most of us are worrying about our club's position in all this but I find it interesting that whilst Lerner & Villa are viewed by the media as an example of a well run club with a near perfect benefactor. According to reports, Villa would fail the FFP rules. After reading their perspective, I would be worried if I was a fan of theirs.

[Ted Hughes]

[Lev Bronstein]

1) Capitalism is regulated in many ways, Contract Law for example. The regulations may be may be imperfect and occasionally ineffectual. But, they are there and armies of commercial lawyers are employed by big concerns to try and ensure that their activities stay within the rules.

2) If a club has a Sugar Daddy then a way will be found to put money in and still stay within the rules, they aren't really the problem. The problem clubs are those that go to the banks, borrowing on assets that they don't really have.

3) My guess, for what it's worth, is that there are a strong group of bodies, banks, media corporations, tax authorities and so on, that are fed up with many aspects of the way the game is run.
The banks must be getting ticked off with the shaky nature of football finances. They want to be able to lend to clubs that are more soundly based than, say Portsmouth or Leeds.
The tax authorities must be fed up of having to chase clubs for not paying their taxes. I/we have to pay up, why should Cardiff, for example, be allowed to operate with, what is in effect, a subsidy from the taxpayers. (I fancy a new car - tell you what I won't bother paying tax for a bit so I can buy it)
The media companies want to be selling a sound product. They put in vast sums, and whilst "clubs in trouble" might make a good story for a short time, in the longer term they know they can't keep bumping up the subscription prices for ever, especially if "the product" looks to be in permanent crisis. I also suspect that they are lukewarm on any breakaway - attractive in the short term, but has the potential to turn into the Harlem Globetrotters: not sport. They need a set of sound competitions that appeal to the widest number possible. They don't want the punters turned off.

4) Sorry, but big powerful clubs will always work to sustain their position. The idea that the proposed changes will turn Mansfield into Madrid isn't going to happen.

5) Generally, it's in the interest of all that football is prevented from eating itself. Whether UEFA and FIFA are goig about it the right way, or indeed if they are capable, is a different question, but, something has to be done.