The European Union has given its backing to the concept of "financial fair-play" in football to prevent clubs spending beyond their means, UEFA and the European Commission said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The vice-president of the European Commission and competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that he fully supported UEFA's aims for the policy and said it was "essential for clubs to have a solid financial foundation".
"The rules of UEFA will protect the respective interests of clubs and players," he said in the statement, released on the eve of the European footballing body's annual congress in Istanbul. UEFA president Michel Platini said he was delighted of securing the European Commission's backing and the policy would "ensure a prosperous and stable future for European football and for the European football community generally".
The "financial fair-play" rules, first approved by UEFA's executive committee back in 2009, are due to come into effect in 2013-14 and effectively state that a club cannot spend more than it earns. Penalties for transgressions are expected to range from simple fines to exclusion from European competitions run by UEFA. The rules are designed to reign in sky-rocketing spending among European clubs. Top division European clubs saw "bottom line" net losses worsen to 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in the financial year 2009-10, a 36 percent increase on the previous 12 months, according to a UEFA report published in January.
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