Uefa recommits to financial limits

Dubai: With clubs reeling from the impact of players' sky-rocketing fees, Uefa plans to put its "Financial Fair Play" project in place within the next three to four years, according to a senior official of the European football's governing body.

Speaking on the second day of the Dubai International Sports Conference organised by the Dubai Sports Council, Andrea Traverso, head of the licensing committee of Uefa, said that the current global recession has only "exacerbated the crisis" and strong regulations are necessary to save club football on a long-term basis.

Process

"[Uefa] has given it top priority and we are in the process of drafting the guidelines, in consultation with the clubs, by this year. Once the framework is ready, we would set ourselves a deadline of 2012-13 to implement them," said Traverso.

Incidentally, Uefa President Michel Platini has been a strong advocate of bringing about some semblance of sanity in players' fees and last year openly criticised the wisdom behind Real Madrid breaking the bank in their acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka.

According to Traverso, while 2008 had seen an 18.1 per cent hike in players' salaries, the year just gone by is sure to see the percentage going up by quite a few notches with the Premiership witnessing some astronomical transfer fees.

"The centrepiece of our approach to the problem is to follow the break-even rule, whereby the clubs will have to strike a balance between their income and expenditure. The aim will be to reduce pressure on players' salaries and transfer fees and thus limit the inflationary effect, apart from also ensuring that the clubs settle their liabilities on a timely basis," the Uefa official said before a distinguished gathering of UAE's top sports administrators, officials and the international delegates.

Crunching numbers, Traverso said while the top division clubs in Europe had recorded a more than 10 per cent rise in revenue in 2008, they still showed a cumulative loss — something which can be attributed to rising players' fees which account for 63 per cent of a club's income on average.

"Surveys reveal that in at least 36 of our member associations, the clubs with highest income finish among the top three of the league. We aim to try and provide a more level playing field," he added.

Michael Van Praag, President of Dutch Football Association and former chairman of Ajax Amsterdam, welcomed the role being played by Uefa's licensing committee so far but noted that very rarely do top clubs agree on issues like caps in transfer fees.

"In football, there are also individuals who take emotional decisions to pump in money to save the clubs — this is also a wrong concept," he said.

The proposals

• A cap on the number of professionals that each team can sign up (approximately 25).
• Unlimited number of under-21 players will be allowed.
• Promote home grown players as this can be seen as a long term investment.
• December 31 as annual deadline for clubs to play their debts.