Neon (AFP)

The European Football Association (UEFA) has revised the rules of financial fair play to be more flexible but more targeted, allowing clubs to increase their deficits but not to waste all of their income on salaries and transaction fees.
As expected, the governing body of the Continental Football Association amended the budget rules, which have been in effect since 2010, to seek a balance between spending and revenue for clubs, which may be excluded from penalized participation.
According to Slovenian UEFA President Alexander Seferin, the key innovation is the introduction of gradual implementation of group spending controls to avoid spending too much on salaries.
The EU broke away from the rigorous accounting logic adopted in the early stages of the rules of financial fair play, doubling the allowable deficit for each club in three years to 60 million euros, bringing it to 90 million. The same period of the club enjoying “financial health”.
But at the same time, the Continental Football Association recognized the diluted form of the “pay cap” system widely used in American professional leagues such as the NBA, but could not implement it with the same strictness. 55 National Associations Laws vary from one to another.
Beginning in the 2025-2026 season, clubs are required to set salaries, transfer fees and agent commissions of their players and coaches at 70 percent of their revenue.
This rule is delayed until the 2025-2026 season, because the contracts currently in operation have an average maturity of three years, for which this rule should be gradually implemented in 90 percent of revenue in 2023-2024, and then 80 percent in 2024 – 2025.
Violating clubs must pay a pre-determined penalty for the extent of the violation, and the proceeds of this fine will be distributed to clubs that comply with the rule.
In addition, violating UEFA clubs will result in other penalties, such as suspending contracts, lending to players, downloading from another European competition (from the Champions League to the Europa League) and deducting points. The “mini-championship” will change that. Beginning in 2024, the number of teams participating in the Champions League will be increased from 32 to 36, with each club currently playing 10 matches at home and away from home. The six system divides the clubs into eight groups of four teams.