And so the fun starts:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -fair-playManchester City are believed to be among 76 clubs in European competition this season – about one third of the total – being investigated for possible breaches of Uefa's financial fair play rules. Paris Saint-Germain are also thought to be involved.
The 76 clubs all failed Uefa's break-even calculations for 2012 and have been asked to provide financial information for 2013.
They will all now have their finances assessed by the club financial control body to see if the breaches have continued and whether sanctions should apply.
The Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino said: "This figure of 76 clubs is a high figure but it has to be looked at in the perspective of what the end figure will be."
Clubs face a range of sanctions ranging from a warning or a fine up to being forced to play in Europe with a salary cap on the squad, or even being barred from competing and having trophies stripped.
The sanctions will apply from the start of next season but in April Uefa will name the clubs who are facing possible action.
Among English clubs, Manchester City would have the most to fear having returned losses of £97.9m in 2012 and £51.6m last year.
Chelsea made a £49.4m loss last year but actually made a £1.4m profit in 2012 so may escape any action.
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -fair-playUEFA has pledged to defend legal challenges it expects some major football clubs to make if sanctions are imposed on them for breaches of the financial fair play rules. Clubs in European competition are required to limit their financial losses to €45m in total over 2011-12 and 2012-13 and this limit will be enforced for the first time before the beginning of next season. Clubs in breach of the rules, introduced to encourage European clubs to be more financially responsible, face sanctions ranging from a fine to exclusion from European competition in the most serious cases.
Uefa's general secretary, Gianni Infantino, revealed that 76 clubs, almost a third of the total 237 involved in European competition, were being investigated for possible breaches of the rules, including making substantial losses, based on their 2011-12 accounts. Manchester City, who lost £98m in that year, bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, are thought to be included in the 76, as well as Paris Saint-Germain, who are now making significant losses bankrolled by the club's owners, a division of the state of Qatar.
Clubs' accounts for 2012-13 have mostly been submitted to Uefa now, and are being investigated. Minor cases will be decided by late April, Infantino said, and final decisions in all cases by mid-June. Alasdair Bell, Uefa's legal affairs director, said he expects legal challenges to be made by clubs on whom sanctions are imposed and maintained that Uefa will fight them. "We are not afraid of [Uefa decisions] being contested," Bell said. "We fully anticipate there will be challenges – it would be strange if there weren't. July and August could be a busy time."
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They never bothered when the likes of Parma, Fiorentina, Leeds, Portsmouth, Luton, Rangers etc started spending beyond their means.
They happily stood on the sidelines and watched those clubs end up in a financial mess.