UEFA confident transfer spending will not affect Financial Fair Play rule

Wed 2nd Feb 2011 | UEFA

In the wake of ‘mad monday’ which saw Liverpool and Chelsea close the January transfer window in dramatic fashion, UEFA, European football’s governing body issued a statement yesterday warning clubs that it was ‘aware’ of the transfer activity.

“UEFA is aware of the recent transfer activity across Europe," they said in a statement.

UEFA claimed that it was confident that the clubs’ transfer activity would not affect their ability to comply with the new Financial Fair Play rules which come into force in 2012.

In a dramatic final day of transfer trading, both Chelsea and Liverpool broke British transfer records when Torres signed for Chelsea in a £50m move from Anfield and Andy Carroll become the most expensive British player when he left St. James’ Park for £35m to join Liverpool.

A combined £225m was spent in the January transfer window by British clubs with Chelsea and Liverpool accounting for nearly half that amount.

In the statement UEFA commented that its “Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations had been widely supported by all clubs and stakeholders, during the long and considered consultation and approval process.

UEFA's new rules mean that any club taking part in any of their cup competitions must break even to encourage clubs to spend no more than they earn. 

“It must be noted, however, that the financial fair play rules do not prevent clubs from spending money on transfers themselves but rather require them to balance their books at the end of the season. It is therefore difficult to comment on any individual situation without knowing the long-term strategy of each club.

“There is no doubt that transfers made now will impact on the break-even results of the financial years ending 2012 and 2013 – the first financial years to be assessed under the break-even rule.

“The clubs know the rules and also know that UEFA is fully committed to implementing them with rigour. For example, as from this summer all payments due on transfers and to employees will be assessed by the Club Financial Control Panel (CFC Panel) as part of the "enhanced overdue payables" rule.

“UEFA has full confidence that the clubs are increasingly aware of the nature of the financial fair play rules, which aim to encourage clubs to balance their incomes and expenses over a period of time covering 4-6 transfer windows.

“In this regard, and during the implementation of the financial fair play rules, UEFA will continue to work together with clubs in order to help them achieve this most important and commonly shared objective.”

Chelsea announced on Monday that they had made a loss of £70.9m for the year up to June 2010.

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