Man City oppose as English clubs move closer to Financial Fair Play

Not a celebratory mood?

The Premier League has moved a step closer to introducing a regulation similar to that of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules after representatives from every club met in London on Thursday, November 15^th.

The league has been contemplating cost-cutting measures for sometime now so as to make clubs more financially and economically stable. They agreed to focus on a model similar to the UEFA FFP regulations, which require teams to avoid making losses and spend only what they make as profits.

With a new three-year television deal expected to break through the £5 billion barrier from 2013, board members met to find a way from preventing the majority of cash flowing straight to the players and their agents in terms of wages and transfers.

A number of English clubs are currently in debt and the “break-even rule” would being in more flexibility and transparency at least in the short term and thus enable a positive gauge on the balance sheets of teams. The likes of Liverpool and Manchester City experienced heavy losses last season while Manchester United still in over £ 350 million debt recently made a tidy profit. Arsenal are one of the few economically stable teams in the Premier League.

Even though no formal agreement was reached, 16 of the 20 clubs asked the league to press ahead with detailed proposals for a “break-even rule”, with a view to introducing it next season. Fulham, Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City opposed the ruling, although for varied reasons.

City and Fulham object because they rely heavily on rich owners while Everton do not want to do anything detrimental that might harm their of selling the club. West Brom though have a completely different approach, they believe it is up to each club to set their own course.

There is the possibility of another meeting being called around Christmas or the New Year.

(Sources: BBC Sport and The Telegraph).