UEFA, the governing body of European football, has decided to fine a total of eight clubs for breaching the rules of Financial Fair Play (FFP). The clubs are PSG, Monaco, and Marseilles from France, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Roma from Italy, and Besiktas from Turkey. The analysis of the clubs’ spendings, which is done by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body, has found that these clubs breached FFP rules for the financial years between 2018 and 2022.

The biggest fine, that of €10 million, has been levied upon the French champions PSG. Roma, which is next on the list, has to pay a fine of €5 million while Inter will be dishing out €4 million. Another Italian giant, Juventus, will be shelling out €3.5 million. The lowest fines will be paid by Marseilles and Monaco- €300,000 each. 

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The total amount of the fines has come to €172 million, with UEFA asking the clubs to play 15% of the amount (€26 million) directly. The remaining amount, €146 million, “is conditional depending on these clubs’ compliance with the targets stated in the respective settlement agreement”, the governing body said in its official statement. If PSG fail to comply with the agreed-upon targets, the Qatar-owned club could end up paying a fine of €65 million. Similarly, Roma’s fine could also add up to €35 million.

While sanctioning the fines, UEFA took into consideration the impact of COVID on the clubs’ earnings in 2020 and 2021. This was a time when earnings from match tickets were almost nil and matches had to be suspended for an extended period of time. 

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In its statement, UEFA pointed that there were many other clubs, including Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, West Ham, Manchester City, Napoli, and Lazio, which “were able to technically fulfil the break-even requirement thanks to the application of the COVID-19 emergency measures and/or because they benefited from historical positive break-even results”.