European football's governing body is keen to reduce the debt burden on clubs and new rules have come into effect this season, with a three-year transition period for teams to break even. UEFA president Michel Platini insists there will be no backtracking regarding financial fair play. A limit on maximum losses has been set as UEFA tries to ensure clubs do not spend more than they earn and possible punishments from 2014 could be exclusion from the Champions League or Europa League. UEFA's executive committee unanimously approved the concept of financial fair play back in 2009, with the main aim of bringing "more discipline and rationality" to club finances, particularly over salaries and transfer fees.
Former France captain Platini
said: "There's no lack of money. Clubs have never spent more. But it's bad financial management. We need to get rules in place... and there'll be no backtracking. Meanwhile, the former midfielder, who guided France to European glory in 1984, said his push to open up Europe's most prestigious club competition to smaller countries has paid off. Minnows APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus have been the main beneficiaries, making it through to the Champions League last eight and a tie with Spanish giants Real Madrid
later this month. Platini said he was prepared to be in the firing line if clubs that transgress were banned from European competition but he said the rules were "important for the legitimacy and popularity" of the game.
Elsewhere, the UEFA supremo again made his case against goal-line technology, arguing that to increase the number of officials at games from three to five made more financial sense than expensive cameras and equipment.
Platini said there would be no exceptions, even if clubs with foreign owners like France's Paris Saint Germain
or Manchester City
in the Premier League had deep enough pockets to operate at a loss. Platini said the competition "has to be played at the right time" and that flexibility over the dates would mean more countries would get the chance to host it in the future. UEFA is currently studying what Platini said was a "range of sanctions" for clubs that fail to meet the financial fair play criteria. Platini also said he was getting growing support from fans for a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, with only leagues opposed because of the potential disruption to their domestic calendar.
Platini said he had been in favour of technology but had reassessed his position, maintaining that more officials would be fairer for players. Platini also brushed off concerns about this year's European championships in Poland and Ukraine, saying the tournament was playing a key role in developing much-needed infrastructure.
"Governments are having to tighten their belts and it's not going down well in their countries. We probably won't be popular but we have to do it, otherwise football will be destroyed." "It goes from fines to exclusion from competitions but it may also be sanctions in terms of recruitment...the goal is not to kill off clubs, it's about setting out rules," he said. "I'm happy that they're playing. It's proof that these small countries have the right to play in the Champions League," he said."Why should the champions of some countries not play when some teams that came fifth in others play?" "If five of them get it wrong three of them would have got it wrong. But the opposite isn't necessarily true," he argued. "That's what is left after such an event, a legacy that wouldn't exist if there wasn't the Euros. "It's a great adventure, complicated, difficult. But difficult births often lead to beautiful babies," he said.
