One billion and 600 million in total debt and 13 clubs, out of the 735 of the top leagues from all over Europe, which in this case could not participate in the cups starting from 2014, the year in which the first sanctions of the Financial Fair Play wanted by Michel Platini.
The UEFA president presented yesterday in Nyon, Switzerland, the 2010 financial year report of the continental clubs. A not very reassuring picture emerged from the point of view of a more equitable and less indebted football desired by the former Juventus champion.
Total debts, in fact, despite the constant calls, rose by 36% (they were 1,2 billion the previous year). Actually there is too some positive signs, such as the increase in revenues (+6,6% to 12,8 billion in total), the cost of players' salaries, which stopped growing after 4 years, reaching 64% of revenues (74% in Italy), and the employment of young people from nurseries, on the rise.
However, this has not been enough to reduce losses, which continue to exceed receipts, breaking the number one rule of financial fair play: you cannot spend more than you earn. And instead 75% of the top clubs, i.e. those with a turnover of more than 50 million euros, spend an average of 12 euros for every 10 proceeds.
The deadline is set for 2014: there will be the first sanctions, e those with a deficit exceeding 45 million euros will be excluded from the cups, especially from the coveted Champions League. Obviously it will be difficult to imagine it without Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and City, Chelsea, Milan, Inter. But Platini is inflexible for now: “We won't look anyone in the face. The 'fpf' will be valid for everyone, even for the sheiks”, he stressed, referring in particular to the new spendthrifts of European football, from Mansour's City to his cousin Al-Thani's PSG.
But from the indiscretions that filter through, it would seem however that it will not be possible to go that far. The original idea, and still strenuously supported by Le Roi, to oust the most important clubs could prove counterproductive. In fact, the grown-ups are waiting for nothing else form a 'cartel' and join a Super League, preferably with, but also without, UEFA.
And therefore the exclusion could turn into: a) a ban on registering new signings in the cup lists; b) withheld as a percentage of the Champions League prizes to be redistributed to "probi" clubs (hypothesis which, however, would put the clubs against rather than compact them); c) all the sanctions of the code, from fines to penalties up to disqualification.
And the Italian teams? So far, of the 13 at risk of exclusion, there are three of us: Milan, Inter and Juventus. Although in recent years the madness of the transfer market has subsided (especially for Milan, which is now unable to sign players except on loan or on a free transfer), the problem remains of costs (salaries above all) higher than revenues, making it necessary to continue capital grafts from their respective properties. Of the three companies, however, the one closest to the way out, thanks to forward-looking programming, is Juventus, which has indeed spent a lot on the market, but also invested in the new stadium, which will become an important and decisive source of revenue over the years.
From this point of view, it is the whole of Italian football that is very backward, view the absolute dependence on television rights and the scarce ability to invest, precisely, in stadiums but not even for example on merchandising. The only two virtuous companies at the moment are Naples and Udinese: focusing on limited salaries, the clubs of Aurelio De Laurentiis and Giampaolo Pozzo are perfectly in line with what Platini wanted. But that is unlikely to allow them to retain the most important players and aspire to win in the long run. This is precisely the meaning of the reform so desired by the three-time Ballon d'Or winner: less costs, more possibilities for everyone. Simply, a fairer football.
