Platini dismisses conspiracy theory
Some time ago Uefa president Michel Platini claimed clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea were in effect cheating their way to victories on the back of their large debts.
He said he was extremely worried by the huge debts of some English clubs, who he felt needed to show more financial control and greater transparency.
To many observers, particularly those in the British media, all this seemed part of some dastardly Platini scheme to impose greater control on football clubs. They were convinced he had particularly targeted English clubs.
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Yet tomorrow in Biarritz he will tell European sports ministers that he is opposed to plans presented by the French sports minister to have a government regulator to run sports.
Platini's position, as he explained to me in an interview in Uefa headquarters in Nyon on Wednesday, (see above) could not be clearer.
He is fundamentally opposed to any idea of government intervention in sports which, he believes, should be autonomous.
He also emphasised that, contrary to the impressions created in parts of the British press, where he has been built up as some of French ogre, he has no plans to interfere in how individual leagues run their affairs.
When I asked him about a French plot to bring down English football, he looked bemused and denied any such conspiracy. While he had discussed football with President Sarkozy this was not on their agenda.
European leagues should do their own thing. All he is concerned about is Uefa and his calls for control of club debts and greater transparency relates to clubs that take part in Uefa tournaments.
He also charmingly confessed that while he knows football, he knows nothing about finance, although he has had meetings with experts who do. Indeed he said a club with a large debt may be better run, and in a stronger position, than one without much debt.
So Platini, recently demonised as a potential destroyer of English football, turns out to be ready to bat for England. How curious all this seems.
You can take the view that Platini, having seen what he had started, is furiously rowing back or that he has been misunderstood.
But Platini, it must be said, is a realist. While he philosophically likes the Sepp Blatter idea of a six-plus-five limitation on teams to encourage home-grown players, he knows that under EU laws there is no chance of it being accepted.
It is, as he told me, illegal under the Treaty of Rome and he cannot advocate anything illegal.
However, all this still leaves an unresolved question which goes to the heart of this debate.
How can Platini achieve greater control over debt and more transparency for clubs that take part in Uefa tournaments without imposing in effect a pan-European sanction?
After all, these are the same clubs that take part in their individual domestic leagues and any Platini-imposed change must have an impact on those leagues.
Also while Platini may be opposed to French sports minister's plans it is clear the politicians have been lured in by the noises made by sports administrators.
Such noises have been made not just by Platini but others in football as well, including FA chairman Lord Triesman, who famously talked about the £3bn debt in English football.
The involvement of politicians has been encouraged by the fact that sports administrators such as IOC president Jacques Rogge and Fifa chief Sepp Blatter would like the EU to accept the specificity of sports and make them part of the Lisbon Treaty.
And while I entirely accept that Platini did not seek to invite politicians to the party that has been a consequence, however unintended, of his utterances.
What Platini and other sports administrators may be about to learn is that once you have politicians at a sports party it is very difficult to get rid of them.
Biarritz, I suspect, will prove only the first act of a play about politics and the regulation of sports that will run and run.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~23~RS~)
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Much better than yesterdays blog, and a bit of a follow up. Hopefully we won't be seeing too much interference, but some control of someone sensible of the stockpiling debt will be welcome.
It really can't just continue as it is. Maybe a system where if your annual outgoings exceed your annual income you get a points penalty the following year? One off items like stadia could be exempted but player sales and costs should be included. Maybe then we would see a return to normality. I don't particularly care who oversees this, but I agree, it shouldn't be politicians. I don't really trust them to run much at the moment.
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Ooh, a first post :D
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Nice, one sentence per paragraph (with the occasional two sentences to prove the rule).
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i dont believe him. i think that he doesnt like english football non stop, and while he says he doesnt vouch for anything illegal i still believe that privatly he would see nothing better than for English football to return to the dark ages. why didnt any of this occur when the Italian league was number one?? where do u think AC Milan got the money for the world record signing Gianluigi Lentini in the mid 1990's? borrowing? maybe. the berlusconi mafia? probably!
Real Madrid are the Spanish king's plaything. when they were struggling for money , all they had to do was sell the training ground to the king for a ridiculous fee, and then he gifted it back to r.madrid for a nominal fee. he asks for transparency ... these things happened right under Uefa and Fifa's nose, and they let these clubs get away with it. so what if english clubs borrow a lot of money? if they can get credit then why not? and if they go under then it is their own problem, not Platini's!
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Isn't the very idea of a government regulator similar to the situation that has seen Peru become the latest to be thrown out of all competitions by FIFA?
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he didnt do anything about the italian league as he was not in charge then!!!
why judge him on an era when he coulndt do anyhting about. why dont we blame labour for the closure of mines under tories.
a little bit of perspective please.
there is nothing wrong with transparency in football. they are now businesses and should be treated as one.
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ifyourwondering
How much of this happened while Platini had ANY sort of sway within UEFA?
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I think that he is afraid that if a EU regulator position was created he wouldn't be chosen as it. He is more scared of losing power than he is concerned for the Premiership.
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maybe platini wasnt in charge at the time, but does that mean that he should abscond from responsibility for the organisation he represents. the fact is these things happened under fifa and uefa's noses, and it is only now - coincidently when the english league is at its peak, have these sanctions been postulated. also im still sure that there are more dodgy dealings going on in those leagues than there are in England. AC Milan's owner is also the president of italy, and the owner of all the tv stations and the media
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Isn't the Comments section supposed to be for a discussion of the topic? Yet on the BBC all too often the first people to post are commenting on (or usually criticising) the style or ability of the writer.
How would you like it if Mihir came to your place of work and gave his critical verdict on your performance every day? And what makes you think the rest of us want to read your uneducated opinions on journalism?
On the issue in question, I remain to be convinced that Platini does anything good for football. He's bound to be biased towards France, and has shown a worrying lack of understanding of what most (English) fans want to see.
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how can he be held responsible for when he was not in power? be fair. why dont we blame the govermnet of now for the errors of the tories.
though yes I am sure that there are other legaues like that too. but lest not froget they have also been punished rightly so i.e. marseille and juventus for instance
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Platini is not a realist. Platini is a hopeless romantic, socialist, communist. He wants to bar the movement of under 18's that are young adults with their own free will they are able to vote yet it is against human rights according to Nanny Platini. He wants a level playing field for all, that punishes clubs that have managed their business affairs well and helps those that have been poorly managed. What about the tax breaks given to top players in France? council subsidies given to local clubs ? is that fair ? He is against a team of brown skinned Brazilians having a majority representation in your club for the sake of national identity. What about football ? What about manager decision appeals subject to video replays ? Why not increase the punishment for collecting several yellow cards that players have no fear of collecting as long as they thwart a goal and points lost ? Why not appoint an academic like Gazidis to the post ? We get goal line technology that will get used once in a month of sundays. Give Credit where credit is due, credit is a part of the way we all live our lives. Hopeless romantic and hapless in his direction. What a bunch of neanderthals and dinosaurs we have to contend with, let's concentrate on football ?
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"After all, these are the same clubs that take part in their individual domestic leagues and any Platini-imposed change must have an impact on those leagues."
Not necessarily. All they have to say is that any club that wants to enter a UEFA-run competition must comply with UEFA regulations, as long as said regulations aren't illegal under EU law. Restriction of movement of workers within the EU is illegal, which is why the 6+5 rule will never fly. But is it illegal to work with X level of debt? No (AFAIK), just a bit risky!
It's no different to the rules that kept some promoted Conference sides out of the Football League because their grounds weren't up to safety standards.
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Is Platini REALLY batting for England, or is he just worried such EU involvement'll result in his own position being effectively superannuated?
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there are no tax breaks given to players in France. its Monaco, and thats becasue its a principality and not part of France.
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He has a point about debt. It's hardly fair that a badly run club (in terms of finance) can do far better than one run well.
He can't do anything about it though. Being a PLC it's perfectly legal. His only way would be to stop football clubs from being PLCs. A virtual impossibility.
Also, some football clubs have been taken over and then the purchase is effectively left on the club rather the individual. This was done with Manu. I'm sure alot of fans were much more unhappy with this than Platini.
To me, this all seems like whinging about something they can not fix. The same as the foreigners rule. If you're from the EU you can work anywhere in the EU.
For some reason Platini (and Cruyff) come across as if they hate the English Premier league.
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Platini has expressed his 'concern' about clubs with huge debts, and that he would consider banning such clubs from European competitions. But how is that fair? some clubs, such as Manchester United, were debt free, then a group came in to buy them, borrowed £millions to do so, then saddled the club with those debts. How can that be stopped? clubs are plc's after all, and how can you blame the clubs for that, they have no control to stop that happening. The very idea i could go and borrow £billions to buy a company, then move all that borrowing to the company itself is farcical and would not be tolerated elsewhere, but football clubs are powerless to stop this.
I also note that UEFA were very quiet when Real Madrid were in debt to the tune of £250m, signing their galacticos and winning Champions League trophies. The only reason R.Madrid got out of that is cause the Spanish Gov't bought their training ground for an extortionate amount which enabled them to repay their debt. I never saw any moves by UEFA about any of these issues when English teasm were also rans in European football.
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the clubs decided to become a PLC and therefore they live and die on the free market economy, theres nothing anyone especially platini can do about it. the whole real madrid issue is one that has annoyed me for many years. English clubs get a bad rap from likes of Platini for creating a successful and marketable league, yet allows scandal after scandal slip thru the net on the continent, especially in southern europe
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I think there should be a limit on debts for every club, if you can't meet these rules you wouldn't be welcome into UEFA competition.
It can only benefit football in the long run. If this affects English clubs more than others, who's fault would that really be? It is the fault of the English clubs no-one else. Was it responsible for them to get into such a state in the first place? No, it wasn't!
If SKY's investment (which is another point of mine, see further down) in the EPL suddenly dried up (hey, maybe they will be hit by the same financial crisis like everyone else has and won't offer you ridiculous amounts of money for the next contract extension) then how many EPL clubs would go bankrupt?
Many EPL clubs have tried to 'buy' success, and most have failed. While Chelsea have won the premiership, they still haven't won the Champions league, which surely is the least they should be achieving with how much they have spent. Teams like Chelsea/Tottenham etc have achieved nothing when you consider how much they are paying out in order to fail. This deserves no respect in my eys. Much smaller teams have achieved as much with 1/20th of the finances (something to be proud of), yet get no respect from EPL fans.
The overspending of the EPL clubs has ruined football in my opinion, and is slowly dredging out the remaining life it has left. Club football has become uncompetitive because of this, it is time to do something about it. The EPL may be prosporing, but at the expense of every other league/competition (including the Champions League).
I also feel that there should be a CAP on how much TV rights can be sold for. There should be a standard template across the whole of the UEFA nations. This would spread the wealth across the leagues and nurture a more competitive sport. Let's brin football back to what it should be, about the sport, the entertainment, not about money.
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About the Real madrid situation. How is that situation any different from the countless number of clubs who, over the years, have recieved investments from outside sources? What the Spanish King/Government did seems like it was just an investment of money in the club, there isn't actually anything wrong with that under the current rules.
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furious st george
yes you are correct, it is not fair. But you must remember that Platini was not in charge then so how could he have affected that. and I also agree that there are muh more serious issues in football, corruption and racism. and these seem to be less adressed. though the corruption was dealt with with Juve being relegated and so marseille and rightly so.
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@furiousStgeorge
Surely if there was a limit to the debt a club could have, buy-outs like the one with Man Utd wouldn't happen. Who would want to buy a club and transfer huge amounts of debt if they knew the club would no longer be able to compete in the competitions that allow it to make money. This would protect the clubs from such transactions even happening.
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I heard a rumour that M. Platini was out shopping and a little boy said hello and asked him a few questions.
Later, the little boy wrote a long story, entitled "what M. Platini told me". The substance of the story was several descriptions of a quote and then the quote itself, followed by more re-phrasing of the quote, and then the same with another quote.
A few days later, the little boy wrote another, longer, story entitled "a story about my story about what M. Platini told me."
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Platini hasn't got a leg to stand on when (if) he complains about the financial behaviour of EPL clubs.
This is driven by the policies of UEFA.
These policies have ensured that only English, Italian and Spanish Clubs can hope to be competitive in European competitions.
UEFA hand out CL revenue in a skewed and unfair way, ensuring that the clubs from "big" countries get more money in CL than clubs from "small" countries for the same games. Hence the rich get richer in Europe.
At the same time they prevent clubs from "small country" leagues from getting together to play in more competitive (and more lucrative) leagues (such as the mooted Atlantic league a few years back), insisting that all clubs play in leagues which are purely national. Thus they ensure that the rich clubs from big countries get more money at home as well.
As a result it is now effectively impossible for "big" clubs from small countries (think Ajax, Benfica, Anderlecht, and yes, Celtic) to compete financially even with "small" clubs in "big country" leagues such as EPL with much smaller followings (e.g. Wigan, Bolton,
Blackburn etc.).
This is the real problem in European football, not ManU's debt... but UEFA are too scared to address it, in case the big boys run away...
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At the risk of being boring, I've said this before. Debt is not bad in itself. We (almost) all have it, we use it to buy our homes. The biggest problem is clubs running at a loss, which either means (a) a benefactor who covers the loss until.... or (b) increasing debt. Man Utd have debt. They make a profit, and are able to service the debt. Arsenal borrowed to build their new stadium. They are careful with their spending so they can cover the debt.
There is a huge difference between having a debt which is serviced by income earned and debt which is incurred by making purchases which are not sustainable by the finances of the club, but instead are bankrolled by an external investor. The former is sustainable (based on results), the latter is subject to the whim and fortune of the benefactor.
Man Utd aren't being funded by the Glaziers, they are funding the debt incurred by the nature of the buy-out deal. Chelsea are funded by Abramovich. If he doesn't cover their operating loss, they are in trouble.
The difference is between using success to finance further success and using finance to try and achieve success.
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Donkamero (#19),
I don't expect Tottenham to get/not get respect for spending big in what it has so far turned out be, for little success. Spurs - you fail to mention - have done this, well within their financial means. But even if we did borrow huge amounts, what's this to other football fans?
The board have taken many transfer gambles, but thats the reality of the modern EPL. The price of Tottenham doing nothing is rightly perceived to be high. If the 'Big 4' continues to consolidate itself, the financial consequences for the rest of the EPL could be catastrophic if this elite becomes embedded and turns its attentions towards a European Super League. They'll leave and take a big chunk of the TV money with them - leaving the remaining EPL with TV deals not too far above those of the FLC.
Spurs aren't the only ones. Man City, Newcastle, Villa - none of us want to be left behind. We make not be as successful in recent years compared to the Big4 , but we all believe we have potential. And we're never ever going to fulfil this if the Big 4 left. Remember where Chelsea were 10 years ago? Spurs themselves have made their intentions clear with plans to develop a 60,000 stadium near the existing WHL site.
'Respect' pales into significance put up against the harsh realities of club football in the 21st century.
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At 3:36pm on 27 Nov 2008, jhfgdsaw wrote:
Nice, one sentence per paragraph (with the occasional two sentences to prove the rule).
-----------------------------
It's a basic of journalism, and herein lies my particular problem with Mihir's blogs. They have recently plumbed some depths for their mediocrity but I have to hold my hands up and admit he appears to have taken the criticism on board and there's definitely an improvement, however, where's the flair Mihir?! Drop the usual journalistic structures and inject a bit of colour and personality into these particular works, please..
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In the penultimate paragraph, I think Mihir hints at what some of the posts above state more clearly:
Platini wants to expand his own empire and the power of his position over others, but doesn't want some bigger boys to come along and do the same thing to him.
I just can't tell what his real position is on important issues.
Perhaps he's just cutting his teeth for a bigger role in French and European politics.
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Platini has upset me greatly ever since he became UEFA president.
Firstly, he makes noises about limiting the number of teams from a certain country entering the Champions League, hence lowering the standard (e.g. only allowing 3 teams from England so Arsenal/Liverpool don't get in) and then tries to make the President of UEFA a political role by condemning clubs with debt.
As has already been mentioned by someone, clubs should be left alone and if they go bankrupt it's their problem- not some foreign ex-footballer sitting 1000 miles away's.
And his comment saying "England won't be missed in Euro 2008" was just proof of his anti-England bias. Sure, we didn't qualify, we didn't deserve to get there. But can he honestly say that an international tournament would be better without Rooney, Gerrard, Terry etc?
Although I do kind of agree with the idea of not allowing players to move club under the age of 18, I think that players should be allowed to go and train and play reserve matches for bigger clubs- otherwise you could end up with a very talented youngster stuck in a lower tier club with poor facilities in a crucial stage of his development.
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I have never known an editor working for the bbc to ever impose their opinion on us before. This surely is the benefit of the bbc. We want information to draw our own opinions, not what you think! This case is specifically relevant as Platini is a fool. He played most of his career in Italy with Juventus at a time when Italian clubs dominated. No one complained at that time least of all Platini. Not to mention the fact that Real Madrid have won most of their trophies funded by the Madrid Council. They sold their training ground which they still use for over £200 million to the council to wipe their debts off. At the end of the day, Platini is French and does not like seeing the english doing well. I'd hope to see the same from an english man in his position should scotland or france ever start dominating. Unfortunately it aint ever going to happen so get over it and shut up. Platini that is, Mihir, congratulations that you are the editor of BBc sport but please, keep your opinion to yourself, no one cares!!!!!
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Rediculous comment 1_united. Read all the blogs on this website and the bloggers get criticism. I don't think people should be coming on these forums just to pick at bloggers writing, but it is a discussion forum, and if Mihir was white i'm certain he'd get just as much criticism. Stop playing the poor me race card just cause someone criticises you/Mihir.
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Surely if there was a limit to the debt a club could have, buy-outs like the one with Man Utd wouldn't happen. Who would want to buy a club and transfer huge amounts of debt if they knew the club would no longer be able to compete in the competitions that allow it to make money. This would protect the clubs from such transactions even happening.
Donkamero
Yeah fair enough, but it's too late now for many, so you'd be punishing them for something they had no control over at a time before the rules were even made.
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I find it amazing that so many of the posters here have the effrontery to criticize Bose's writing style or his choice of topic. He is an experienced (very experienced), well-respected journalist who has earned the right over many years to hold the position he does. He publishes pieces under his own name. You posters, meanwhile, are unqualified, inexperienced and anonymous. If an editor applied the same standards to your posts as to his fewer would see the light of day.
Disagree with the sentiments expressed, have a go at Platini's attitudes by all means, but give the man some respect, he's doing it for you.
Platini himself is probably just confused. He comes across as well-meaning, thoughtful, idealistic and naive to me. Just the kind of guy to say something in all innocence one day only to have to back track later when he realises what a chump he's been.
Nevertheless money in football is a hot issue, but I don't think it is fair to suggest Uefa make things worse by favouring 'big' countries. The 'big' countries favour themselves. What drives these tournaments is TV money. Big TV money comes from big audiences, big audiences supply big subscription and advertising income. The biggest payers are England, Italy, Spain and Germany. Therefore, they get more places.
Additionally these countries will form their super league if Uefa don't continue to feed their needs.
By the way, it is absolutely normal for someone to borrow 'billions' and then put that debt into the company bought. That's how it works. The whole point is that the company bought can afford to service that debt - exactly as the Glaziers have done with Man U.
What was not absolutely normal was the Spanish government's purchase of Real Madrid's training ground. It was a scandalous intervention that should have resulted in Real Madrid being thrown out of La Liga. Imagine how Barca and Sevilla and the others felt? It doesn't happen like that elsewhere.
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I don't understand what the clubs are doing wrong? If a High Street Bank , High Street Store and even a Government be allowed to go about there business with a debt then why not a football club.The world is run on credit and debt and football is no different.
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I don't care what he says in his latest interview, Platini has always had it in for England and the Premiership clubs. It all stems from simple jealously, his own country has a poor league which doesn't produce any teams capable of competing for the Champions League. Ok Lyon are a good side but rarely do they go beyond the last 16.
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"He also emphasised that, contrary to the impressions created in parts of the British press, where he has been built up as some of French ogre, he has no plans to interfere in how individual leagues run their affairs.
When I asked him about a French plot to bring down English football, he looked bemused and denied any such conspiracy. While he had discussed football with President Sarkozy this was not on their agenda."
Thats what a French ogre would say!
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i think everyone should realize that Platini has been the worst ambassador for football for some time. He is an ex fairly good player who feels that he is the be all and end all of european football. If it is not French it is not worth anything is his motto. The quicker they get rid of this excuse for a professional the better.
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People keep saying that Chelsea has lots of debt but Shareholders Loans are not really debt. When someone owns 100% of a company's equity (as Roman does Chelsea) and decides to invest more money in the business they would usually do this in the form of "shareholder loans" because a) this enables the investor to take money out of a business at a later date as a loan repayment instead of as taxable dividends and b) since he already owns all the equity there isn't much point in issuing even more shares. So, shareholder loans issued to a 100% shareholder are nothing like debt from a 3rd party who needs to be repaid "as and when debts fall due". Even if Roman's shareholder loans include interest payments (which they may not), Chelsea would not have to pay this if Roman decides to waive the requirement.
Bottom line is that Chelsea have an owner that has invested a considerable amount into the club. Thats not the same thing at all as being in debt.
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Wow! Im still amzed how often on BBC board the frnehc are gettign insulted over Platini.
The Guy was elected in charge of UEFA by his peers, also he is entitled to his opinion just as everyone is to theirs as long as they dont insult anyone and are not disrespectful. which many here are being.
Platini doesnt like debts and I understand. In england football clubs that go into administration have their debts cleared and penalised for it. but what about the creditors, many of whom dont ever get their money back regradless of how successful the club then becomes. on what basis is this fair? very interesting article in paper today about this.
it is not fair, if its a business it should be run like one. despite this Platini has made it cleared that this should be elft to every nation's football association. a comment that is ebing ignored because its much simpler to insult someone.
Having lived in London for 12 years, when people ask me my favourite thing about england i always say EPL. it is unrivalled in my eyes.
and i get the ebst of both worlds, as i get to watch and attend the beast league in the world, whilst back home, due to our league which is still 4 th best in europe lets not forget, we have a better national team.
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Platini played for Juventus on the day of the Heysel Tragedy. Maybe it's a subconscious thing where he saw the old manifestation of the English disease in the form of European domination by English clubs by winning trophies and exportation of hooliganism.
Maybe subconsciously he feels English domination is somehow wrong and is out to stop it in all forms. A "Je ne sais quoi" factor. Maybe it goes all the way back to the Heysel days.
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How about a system like they have in Germany? Where clubs have to re-apply to their league each year. This includes meeting certain criteria, including an assessment of their financial state.
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I'm an English football supporter but some of the comments on here are moronic. People accuse Platini of being anti-english and pro-french, this is rubbish. His role is to look after the interests of all of Europe not just one country, for the other 50 odd countries in europe besides England, our clubs have too much money. Take for example the champions league - as soon as the draw was made it was obvious that all 4 of our teams were going to qualify, and I'd bet that at least half the semi finalists this year will be English teams. And this pattern is likely to continue for several seasons.
If the champions league becomes this one sided and predictable, people outside of England will stop watching and money for all teams and UEFA will go down.
Platini would be irresponsible if he didn't try and address some of these issues
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@H0ck3ynut
Thats sounds like a good idea, yeah. That coupled with the limits on TV rights would allow club football across Europe to be competitive again.
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Ignoring the facts does not change them!
'All European Clubs coming within 6 Points of the Champion will qualify for the UEFA Champions League' - this Qualifying Criteria will allow all European Clubs to play debt-free Football in a fair environment!
Legal or not, 6+5 does not work! It has not even been tested. So there is no reason for so much space to be wasted on it.
Michel Platini and Joseph Sepp Blatter must be forced to face reality and set their priorities. It is idiotic to talk of 6+5 when Football is creating hundreds of millions of empty seats annually.
Platini and Blatter are messing up a great game!
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Well said #49 !!
From what i've heard of his proposed plans, he intends on giving smaller leagues/clubs a fairer crack of the whip.
I mean, wouldn't people like to see the new Europa League by like an FA Cup for Europe?
Okay, you're never gonna get rid of the seedings completely, but it'll be good to see some new names in the frame.
I doubt we'll ever go back to the Champions League (or European Club Champions Cup) having just the league champions, but i don't see why there can't be a maximum limit of 2 per nation.
Quarter finals made up of clubs from England, Spain and Italy again...? Snooooooooze......
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Platini's superstar ego courting those in the corridors of power has got him to be where he wants to be, but now it appears he is bungling around out of his depth trying to impose himself, be careful what you wish for !
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What where platinis views regarding the number of teams per domestic league in the champions league and does he beleive that english clubs should not have 4 club involvement?
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could it be platini doesnt want government regulation because he wants to run the show? maybe he is up to something himself? maybe he wants to run football like a dictatorship? or maybe he's just an idiot?
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I don't understand why if Platini says he wants to stop clubs going into debt people automatically think he's specifically targeting English clubs? Roma have a crippling debt, as do Juventus - are Italians banging on about how their clubs are being "targeted" by the mischevious Platini? They probably are actually - and that's the whole point. This is not an English-club witch hunt, obviously.
Man Utd spend 100 times more money on wages than my club do. But they also have 300 times as much debt as my club do. If the banks call those loans in and they go bust they will never have to pay any of that money back (or at most 1-10% of it) and they can start again from scratch so how is that fair on my club? Too right I want to see something done about it; here, abroad, everywhere. And that's what Platini wants to do.
One point though. Platini says this will extend only to UEFA and FIFA tournaments. He means the Uefa cup and Champions League of course but shouldn't it therefore logically apply to national tournaments like the European Cup? I'm sure the English and Italian FA's (for example) are carrying millions more in debt than, for example, the Georgian FA. What are they going to do about that?
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I do not trust Platini...financial control in UEFA comps, a pre-cursor to a ban?? watch this space.
UEFA hate fact England clubs finally doing well, the 6/5 euro limit is illegal (bosman) watch them get around it by the homegrown 8/24 (in squad) - this rule will develop to 5 in team and with Euro transfer ban on u18s UEFA will have their 6/5 combination.
Maybe I'm just a sceptic?
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