Licensed to play

UEFA announces new financial regulations for clubs

NYON, Switzerland (AP) -- European soccer's governing body announced Friday a new club licensing system forcing clubs to fulfill five basic criteria before being allowed to take part in European competition.

Under the system, clubs failing to meet the five terms would not be granted a license and therefore be ineligible to compete in Champions League or UEFA Cup. Clubs could penalized for running up debts and rewarded for running successful development programs.

According to the system, expected to be in place by the start of the 2004-2005 season, clubs must all provide audited accounts, have no overdue transfer payments and pay players' salaries on time.

Other criteria include clubs having a minimum of three youth teams, being a member of a UEFA member association, have administrative posts that include a head coach, general manager and finance officer, as well as having suitable stadium facilities.

"We see this as a positive project which will keep European football well ahead of the game in other parts of the world," said UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner after a two-day UEFA executive committee meeting at its headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva. "If this licensing structure becomes reality it will provide the necessary framework for European football to develop further."

Additional financial criteria, being considered for a second phase of the system starting in 2006-2007, would have clubs needing to prove their liquidity.

However, Aigner insisted that UEFA was looking to help clubs with the new system and not exclude them. He added that each situation was individual, that teams might be given extra time to adhere and exemptions might be made.

"We will try to be dogmatic in applying the system," Aigner said. "Sometimes you just need to give a bit of time.

"Our intent is not to lose clubs. They will have to adapt on this but this they want to do, it's to their benefit. They want to be in a healthy situation."

The licensing system gives a solid boost to the prospect of player salary caps. Consensus has grown among the top European clubs that salaries must be reduced in the face of an anticipated decline in television revenues. UEFA and the clubs have been studying how a salary cap could work, in particular in relation to European law.

Currently, most clubs spend over 80 percent of their annual turnover on player salaries, raising concerns that clubs could go bankrupt if wages are not curtailed. Some Italian clubs have doubled spending on player salaries over the last three years. Several clubs are debt.

"Sometimes there needs to be a painful experience. Two years ago if someone had suggested a salary cap there would have been an outcry," Aigner said. "Now clubs are talking about it, pushing for it. They see this big black hole where the money is disappearing"

The influential G-14 lobbying group of European clubs -- composed of Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Porto -- met in Barcelona two weeks ago and agreed to the principle of a wage ceiling, which they want in place by 2003.

But UEFA has said it would not impose a salary cap on its end, hindered by varying labor laws across Europe. It would, however, back such a move if clubs were to get together and put forward a proposal.

In other matters, the executive committee also gave the green light for an investigation into the marketing of a possible group phase of the UEFA Cup. A final decision is expected late July.

UEFA vows to fight to protect interests

UEFA chiefs also said they were prepared to fight to protect European interests following reports that FIFA president Sepp Blatter was about to dismantle the federation's powerbase within world football.

The UEFA executive committee responded vehemently to Blatter's purported plans for sweeping changes to the FIFA statutes which would result in UEFA losing decision-making power on the world scene.

UEFA also fears an overhaul of FIFA statutes might mean it would lose berths in future World Cups and that the World Cup would not return to the European continent until 2022 once Germany has hosted the 2006 competition.

"Following media reports of proposals that are being considered by the FIFA president to undermine the position of Europe in world football, the UEFA Executive Committee today firmly resolved to take all steps necessary to protect the position of European football in relation to World Cup places, proper representation within FIFA and decision-making on major footballing matters," declared UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner.

According to reports, Blatter is allegedly lashing back at UEFA for prompting FIFA's 24-man executive committee to start an investigation into the world governing body's finances and the president's office. Blatter has since convinced the executive to drop the investigation of his offices.

Cited in the British newspaper the Daily Mail, Blatter said he would prefer that each of the confederations have an automatic place on the executive committee with the remainder selected by congress. He said before 1961, the congress would select the president and the executive.

"We will have new statutes for our centenary year to reflect the new look of football," Blatter told the Daily Mail. "At present the members of the executive board -- the government of FIFA -- are selected by six different entities (the confederations) and this makes work difficult.

"I think that there is too much power in one confederation (UEFA) which has eight members out of the 24. If it finds allies from another confederation then it has 12 votes and it only needs one more to make it difficult for the president. I am left without a mandate. This is not good for the president. He cannot have control of the direction and management of FIFA if he knows that the executive committee could oppose him."

Though Aigner would not reveal exactly what steps UEFA planned to take, he did hint who would take them.

"The executive committee is acting on behalf of its member associations and eight of these members are also members of the FIFA executive committee," Aigner said. "It is the mandate of member associations to make sure that European interests are safeguarded. It is up to the eight member associations to do likewise."

Reports warn that Blatter's plan will limit Europe's control. Up until now Europe has controlled as much as a third of the decision-making executive committee. It also generates as much as 50 percent of FIFA's television rights revenue.

"The tendencies and ideas about changing the relation of powers within FIFA and the historical position of Europe is not new," Aigner said. "We are quite accustomed to dealing with these things. All of our representatives are permanently aware that the position of Europe is permanently challenged because of its historical privileges.

"I hope Mr. Blatter's comments were a loose reflection rather than a firm plan."

Meanwhile, FIFA's accounts show the organization has lost 97 million pounds (US$136 million) after it juggled finances to raise instant cash, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday. The paper said it had a copy of the audit report from KPMG's Zurich office.

Blatter, who is expected in Zermatt, Switzerland, this weekend for the annual International Board meeting, is seeking a second term as president and until now, is the only candidate running for the position.

However, his chances could be threatened with Cameroon's Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football, or CAF, expected to announce his candidacy shortly.

 

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