Friday , March 29 2024

UEFA’s Financial fair play and club licensing review!

The new UEFA Compliance and Investigation Activity Report 2015–2017, published this week, reviews another busy two years of club licensing and financial fair play developments for UEFA.

The comprehensive report reviews, in transparent detail, the implementation and assessment of UEFA’s club licensing system and financial fair play process for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons.

The 48-page report concerning the activity and jurisprudence of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Investigatory Chamber again highlights the positive financial trends in European club football, as it describes, in particular, how the break-even requirement has been assessed, and how settlement agreements have been monitored.

In terms of the break-even requirement, the report shows positive trends among monitored clubs. In particular, the 71 clubs who were subject to further monitoring in the 2016/17 season (excluding clubs under settlement agreements) achieved a total net break-even surplus of €6m in 2015 and €51m in 2016, compared with a net break-even deficit of €250m in 2014.

The report notes that from 2014 to 2017, the CFCB Investigatory Chamber concluded settlement agreements with 27 clubs in respect of the break-even requirement. During that period, 13 of these clubs exited the settlement regime because of their compliance with the terms of their respective settlement agreements. The clubs under settlement showed a significant improvement of their financial situation. Indeed, their break-even deficit decreased from €924m in 2013 to €184m in 2016.

The report also shows that even in a time of increased revenue, the level of outstanding amounts towards specific creditors remained relatively stable, indicating the positive impact that the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play (“CL&FFP”) Regulations have had in respect of overdue payables.

Looking ahead, the report states that “the current CL&FFP Regulations, which entered into force on 1 July 2015, are under review with the various stakeholders and a new edition is expected to be released at the end of the 2017/18 season.”

In the introduction to the fourth edition of the report, Pablo Rodriguez, UEFA’s head of financial monitoring and compliance, said, “We hope that this detailed report on the compliance and investigation activities monitored by the CFCB investigatory chamber continues to provide football’s stakeholders with useful information and helps to further increase transparency and good governance in European club football.”

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