What will Uefa and the clubs that obey FFP do now that FFP has been wrecked?

Posted on 14 July 202014 July 2020 by Tony Attwood

By Tony Attwood

Of course we have not yet had the full details of the CAS ruling in the Manchester City case, but CAS has been overturning Uefa rulings for so long (typically cutting punishments in half) it seems unlikely that Uefa will have much of a mind to let things carry on as before after such a dramatic defeat. They will want change, and indeed so will all their members.

Most damning for Uefa is that CAS did not rule that Manchester City had not broken all the FFP rules it was charged with breaking, but quite simply Uefa had, under its own rules, taken too long to bring the matter to court.

In other words Uefa was incompetent in its systems for bringing the matter to a head, as well as being wrong in alleging that the sponsorship arrangements were fiddled. Manchester City accused Uefa of being biased, and given that CAS overturned Uefa’s findings, that appears to have been upheld.

Generally speaking a court which has been found by a higher tribunal to be biased cannot continue hearing further cases without making major changes to its structures, because from now on, in each subsequent case, defendants will be able to argue that Uefa has been shown to be incompetent in abiding by its own rules.

Apart from that as a defence in all subsequent cases, we have the fact that Manchester City were accused of non-co-operation during the proceedings, but have still won. Which means every defendant from now on will be encouraged to take the non-co-operation line from now on. If Manchester City can get away with it, so can anyone. Any finding against a club by Uefa will go to CAS on the grounds that CAS has already found Uefa incompetent.

Beyond Uefa there can be no doubt that Manchester City will now start buying. £150m has been stated as the budget. It could be more. FFP is dead, buried, lost, forgotten.

So in each and every subsequent case we will have delay upon delay, followed by the argument that Uefa has been proven to be incompetent, and FFP shown to be unenforceable.

So what happens next?

Option 1: Uefa continues as if nothing has happened.

That would seem quite likely given that their case was thrown out on the technicality of being out of time. They are looking grossly incompetent. But that will leave many clubs deeply unhappy.

Option 2: Uefa changes its time rules

This is quite likely too given that they can argue they have never seen a member of Uefa threaten the union before. Given that other clubs will follow suit Uefa has to have a provision for dealing with antagonistic un-co-operative members, as Manchester City clearly are, by their own admission. To deal with such clubs it may well need 10 years not five. But that makes the situation untenable.

Option 3: Uefa walks away from CAS

CAS has constantly reduced Uefa punishments, usually cutting two year bans to one – but this time has gone far further. Uefa does not have to open itself to a court of final appeal, but could have its own court of final appeal, just as the British government has its own Supreme Court which can give a final verdict after the findings of the Court of Appeal.

Option 4: Countries could walk away from Uefa

Uefa only exists because the countries in Europe agree that it should be there. If the clubs look at the Manchester City prosecution and feel that Uefa were threatened and then lost because of incompetence, they might feel that having such an organisation is not worth their while.

If together they pull out, that would leave Uefa simply running European country v country matches under the ultimate jurisdiction of Fifa. With Fifa under further assault in the courts of Europe (which you won’t read about in the English media but which is continuing day by day – details on this site) the clubs might well decide to set up their own competition.

Although Fifa could object, given that Fifa recognises Uefa, there is little they could do if the clubs en masse simply said they have had enough. Certainly the level of surprise in Europe in response to the level of the defeat of Uefa, could make this a viable option.

Fifa might then ban countries that walked away from Uefa, but since that would mean banning some of its most powerful members, that seems unlikely.

Option 5: Clubs walk away from Uefa and Manchester City.

The argument here is that Manchester City is not a club but a department of a government. The Uefa rules were intended to ensure that clubs were funded by their own income, and this approach has failed. If clubs don’t blame Uefa but blame Manchester City and their owners, they could simply walk away and form a new association in which the idea of FFP is properly upheld.

Certainly there appears to be a level of shock in Europe at the outcome of this case, and it seems unlikely that matters will be allowed to continue as now.

Many countries have slipped into a position where the outcome of the national league is known before the season starts – and indeed two years ago Untold predicted the outcome of six leagues before the season begins, and got all six outcomes right. That hardly reflects a competitive environment and there seems to be a bit of a feeling that this is all getting rather ridiculous.

This might be a straw and camel’s back scenario.

The future of football

9 Replies to “What will Uefa and the clubs that obey FFP do now that FFP has been wrecked?”

Dave G says:

14 July 2020 at 3:58 PM

You are aware that City were found not guilty of breaking ffp rules?
Tony Attwood says:

14 July 2020 at 5:10 PM

What an extraordinary question.
Menace says:

14 July 2020 at 7:11 PM

Dave G – are you so dumb? City were fined. That means they were guilty. What happened was that the evidence had passed it’s use by date. It is a farce that money rules. When money buys the grace of innocence, there is no use for Law.
Nitram says:

14 July 2020 at 8:04 PM

Harry Redknapp was found not guilty and some people believe that as well. Not anyone I’ve ever spoken too mind, but maybe we’re just a bunch of old cynics down our way.
Steve says:

14 July 2020 at 10:24 PM

Menace – You’re the dumb one…City were found not guilty of any financial offences because there was either insufficient evidence(not mentioned in the article) or the accusations were too old or they were based on illegally hacked emails. This doesn’t mean they would have been found guilty even if they were taken into account just that they weren’t considered. What they were guilty of is not fully cooperating with UEFA. You need to look closer to home for the problems in football which started with greedy teams who voted for the Premier League and got so comfortable at the top they didn’t any new competition.
Mikey says:

15 July 2020 at 10:08 AM

@ Steve

“City were found not guilty of any financial offences because there was either insufficient evidence(not mentioned in the article) or the accusations were too old”.

“OR THE ACCUSATIONS WERE TOO OLD”! By your own admission then City were not found to be innocent. In fact had it not been for the fact that the “accusations were too old” they could well have been found guilty. In no way an exoneration then.
Nitram says:

15 July 2020 at 10:15 AM

Man City, a club run so badly as to burn through 23 managers in 17 years from 1971 up until 2008 when the money arrived.

Man City, a club run so badly they didn’t win a trophy for 35 years, 35 years in which they were relegated 5 times and spent 9 years out of the top flight, then the money arrived.

Man City, a club run so badly they almost went bankrupt as recently as 2005:

Stuart Pearce reckons he saved Manchester City from going bust.

Nottingham Forest boss Pearce claims the now megabucks Blues were on the brink of bankruptcy during his time as their manager, and only the £21million sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips to Chelsea in 2005 saved them from going under.

“The club had sold the club shop, sold the ground to council, we were paying on the never and never for the Anelkas of this world,” he recalls.

“It really was a case that the owners said, ‘Unless Wright-Phillips goes, we go.’ On the Monday morning they pressed the button and Chelsea put £21million in the bank which bails the club out [but] which puts pressure on me because you are selling your goal-scorer.

…..then the money arrived and boy did the money arrive.

From nearly going bankrupt in 2005 Man City were suddenly, somehow, in a position to post a Nett LOSS of £367 Million over the next 6 years. Really?

Between 2008 and 2020 Man City posted a Nett deficit on transfer spending of ONE BILLION.

And we are expected to believe that this shambolically run club, that won that 1 single trophy in 35 years and nearly went bankrupt as recently as 2005 were suddenly miraculously ‘EARNING’ enough money to justify those losses. Bullshit.

You can whinge and whine as much as you like about being found ‘not guilty’ but anyone with 2 braincells to rub together knows that what City have done stinks.

Why would an innocent party need to withhold co operation and in addition to that threaten their accusers with bankruptcy if they pursue them through the courts ? Innocent people don’t do that.

If they, Man City, are prepared to make such threats in the public domain one has to wonder what they may threaten in private !

All this and you come on here with your ridiculously warped sense of entitlement telling us how we should all be so pleased for you and just move on, and when we’re not, You start telling us how bitter and jealous we are, when in reality it is you that are the bitter and twisted ones, having sat in the shadows of your great rivals as they won trophy after trophy whilst you wallowed in the depths of division 2. How you had to watch as you fell from grace in the early 70’s, whilst your Neighbours went on to rule the World, and what’s more they did it with style, and by just being MANCHESTER UNITED. That must of hurt.

And on top of all that they did it WITHOUT a corrupt nation state, with an appalling human rights record, piling Billions of pounds in. In fact they’ve got the BURDEN of some American businessman actually taking money out, that’s how superior as a club they are to you.

I can only think that it is Man City’s fans deep rooted jealousy of Manchester United, and other clubs that actually earned their place at the top table, that makes them so accepting of such filthy money, and so in denial of how they actually bought their way to the top in a fashion that is so absolutely abhorrent to most right thinking people.

Honestly Man City’s fans take on this is so warped it’s actually quite funny.
markyb says:

15 July 2020 at 1:14 PM

Nitram, I also believe there are loads of our friend Roman’s toy club like that too
Nitram says:

15 July 2020 at 3:32 PM

markyb

I know.

They seem to think being gifted a Billion pounds plus from some dodgy Oligarch or shameful middle eastern human rights evader constitutes ‘A Brilliantly run Club’.

You couldn’t make it up.

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What will Uefa and the clubs that obey FFP do now that FFP has been wrecked?

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9 Replies to “What will Uefa and the clubs that obey FFP do now that FFP has been wrecked?”

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