PSG to pay UEFA $10M for breaking soccer club finance rules

Updated Sep. 2, 2022 11:36 a.m. ET
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain must pay 10 million euros ($10 million) for breaking UEFA financial rules, with seven other clubs also punished for overspending since 2018.

UEFA said its club finance investigators ordered prize money from European competitions totaling 26 million ($26.1 million) to be withheld from the eight clubs sanctioned under Financial Fair Play rules.

A further 146 million euros ($146.4 million) in total punishments could be imposed if the clubs fail to meet financial targets in the next three to four years they have agreed to in settlement deals, UEFA said.

PSG will have the biggest amount deducted with a group of Italian clubs next in line: Roma must forfeit prize money of 5 million euros ($5 million), Inter Milan 4 million euros ($4 million), Juventus 3.5 million euros ($3.5 million) and AC Milan 2 million euros ($2 million).

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The other deductions imposed were 600,000 euros ($600,000) from Besiktas and 300,000 euros ($300,000) each from Marseille and Monaco.

The sanctions covering the financial years from 2018-22 — including two seasons when club revenue was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic — should be the last major round of cases under the FFP rules that UEFA announced in April will now be modified.

UEFA launched FFP a decade ago to monitor the revenue and spending of clubs that qualify to play in its club competitions to ensure they approach break-even on their soccer-related business. Clubs were allowed unlimited spending on stadium and youth development projects.

Qatar-backed PSG had to pay UEFA 20 million euros ($20 million) in 2014, when Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City had to pay the same amount, in the first round of FFP cases.

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