https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2018/11/02/5bdc966a22601db41a8b4595.html

https://punchng.com/uefa-psg-man-city-targeted-in-football-leaks-revelations/

UEFA helped Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City get around their own Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, according to a Football Leaks investigation published on Friday.

Reflection of society. Politicians and businessmen are able to put their money away in tax havens. A normal hardworking guy runs his own business and happens to somehow be missing one sheet of his annual bank statement...gets hit with a massive fine.

From what I've been reading FFP is actually illegal to implement and uphold.
Rich teams will never face any true punishment because FFP disrupts free commerce in the European Union and these teams can afford to spend millions on the very best lawyers and drag UEFA through years of legal battles. That's why it's easier for UEFA to fine those teams.
I was pro FFP but it just cannot be implemented correctly in it's current format. Some serious revisions need to be made. This ruling just helped the top teams remain up there and punishing the rest.

While City and PSG do have some illicit funding, I do believe every single top team is just as guilty. No one is above another when we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.

@raimondo90. In principle, you'd have a point. But infringement on custom is not applicable in this case.

Whilst a private body, PSG and Man city participate in European competition that is governed by UEFA. More importantly, they AGREED to the principles and requirements of FFP when it was introduced. Had these clubs along with others somehow not agreed to the ruling and or protested and then took the issue to a relevant court, then it would be understandable. In the case of both Man city and PSG, they're both clubs who've subscribed to FFP. Breaking FFP and going out of their way to be deceiving are not going to help them if they somehow raise a case as to the infringement of custom. Whether it would be a 'local' court in the UK and or France or a European court would ask the same question - you had lawyers, accountants, business developers, analysts etc etc who'd have been able to digest the requirements of FFP when you agreed to them. Why at the time did you not protest and make it clear that A. they were an infringement as to the rights to trade and B. that they are and were unrealistic to abide by.

@milan why wouldn't they protest at the very beginning? Probably because every lawyer team advised them to just break it and dispute in court assuring they would win.

I'm not 100% sure but I believe a UEFA ruling cannot be above a European Union law. I think it voids the rule mainly because it goes against the principles of the EU.

This is all sepculation but I think that's mainly the reason why big teams avoided it so easily. And with the whole Super League looming closer I'm sure teams were also able to threaten UEFA to drop everything or they'd join that and UEFA loosing revenue.

i feel like raimondo90 is technically correct, just refer to the CAS. UEFA operates within the frameworks of other entities like the EU, just like the clubs themselves operate within the entity of UEFA and FIFA and their National leagues.. i wonder though whether the EU has let UEFA govern independently though, surely we would've heard of an incident involving the EU already..

The allegations, statements, conclusions, claims you people make here without there being any legal procedure terminated... It's laughable to say the least.

@Pelle Mate, don't get me wrong, I got nothing against PSG, its actually a team I appreciate, but it really doesn't look good and even you have to concede this. I'm mean, the owners of the club could invest many hundred of millions in the club if the FFP didn't exist, so if I were in their shoes, I would propably be tempted to try and bypass it myself if I could.

@raimondo I personally agree with Raimondo though, the way FFP work right now isn't right either. It doesn't excuse corruption if there is though.

My problem is when people start to philosophize on corruption as if it is a PSG thing. People either have a short memory or were born late. I could literally give tons of other examples... but I can't pretend as if PSG is not involved in anything. FiFA itself, the highest governing body in football, has been caught, so why are people acting like corruption is an isolated thing around one or two clubs...

so why are people acting like corruption is an isolated thing around one or two clubs...

it's not isolated thing. it's simply a fact that clubs like Rubin Kazan or any other club which is not that rich is going to get punished, while clubs like City got visible evidence of breaching the rules yet nothing happened.

UEFA can't give them same treatment, cos that would cost them money so, UCL without likes Neymar, Mbappe, KDB, Aguero and so on ain't happening, UEFA would lose millions on loosing these teams in UCL.

yeah, sure, City is dominating the league when they spend so much, surprise. the club is such a joke that whole stadium (well, emptyhad ain't going to be full) is whistling on Champions League anthem when UEFA did help them to hide their doping.

Yeah a UCL without Messi and CR7 would be such a shame.

It really makes my blood boil when I see apologist comments like 'aw well others are cheating as well or awww well, they had a goal allowed last week which should've been allowed, so why complain about ours'.

Just because someone somewhere might also be fraudulent, doesn't take anything away from the fraud and deception in question! If this logic was applied, no murderer would be in jail and no thief would ever be punished! Instead, we'd just say...ah well, he isn't the only criminal...dont be so harsh on him! How on earth do people come up with such apologist logic??

@emobot7. Uefa in some of the cases actually have been helping psg and man city to get around the very rules they set. How can it work If the lawmakers are helping to break the law??

@quikzzyy!

Champions league without the star players? Lol are aguero, mbappe and neymar in love with psg and Manchester city? Clubs with such prestigious and long standing European records? Punish the fraudsters and those players and their agents will pack up and go somewhere else in a flash! They're there for money! Thiago silva might've shed a tear when Milan had to sell him, but I don't think he went to psg with lower wages! If psg and man city are banned and can no longer throw money around, those top players would leave!

Spare us your moral lessons and have some bong rips. You've been at PSG for some time and now all of a sudden it is your blood that "boils"!? Gtfo with all your bs chronicles and let justice have its due.

@Pelle Honestly what justice are you even talking about? Your poor club having some decisions against it at UCL? How can you defend such anti-football activities anyway? PSG became a trend in football just like a trash song ''mans not hot'' became a trend in music industry, your owners money forced the success[That was not bad] and because he could not do whatever the hell he wanted he broke the rules by splashing cash wherever the hell he wanted.

So what if your owner gets bored of football and PSG shinks to mediocrity? How will your club re-pay or manage to find the funds to pay the players? What if he does the same to basketball? You can get the f out as you suggest and lick his sandals while he is riding his camel or 200k Audi car but when you discuss football with a football community you will learn to respect it. Weren't you supporting Arsenal anyway some years ago? What happened? Lack of trophies and success and took the easy road with PSG to feel superior to other football fans?

Feels like I am arguing with those girls when you type, you simply attack people with irony when they share links and info that show how guilty is your club. I can provoke and be ironic like you as well but the difference is I am not defending the killer but the victim and the victim here is not only football but it is also the clubs and the fans.

First of all I'm not attacking people, I attack opinions. Especially biased ones... And I don't feel pity for the person behind them, because an opinion is by definition not a fact. Especially not biased opinions! And that's where people like you fail to refute and have to give back with making it me "being one of those girls" instead of sticking to the point.

I have no problems when you enlighten us about what is going on (keep those links coming), but when you say or imply that PSG should be burnt alive. That is, adding your own biased and very often hateful opinion... that's when you start acting more like an inquisitor instead of a real football fan.

You want to burn the witch alive for heresy when the entire church is burning.

@Pelle

I wasn't responding to you.

Ok ☺ 👍👍

@Pelle You are ironic in the comments and use phrases like GTFO etc. I never blamed PSG entirely for the problem neither I said burn the club. I simply said PSG is one of the main sources of the problem and their attitude and strategy should be dealt before its too late. I even said that if CHELSEA my own god damn club did that same bs that your club does should be punished but my club did not suddenly gave 200M to Hazard to buyout a contract or whatever method was used to obtain Neymar.

You realize that its not about clubs, nationalities, egos or money its about football as a whole that is in danger? What if the owner of PSG was using French as slaves and French would die for building a stadium for the rich? How can you seriously let a small minority of rich bastard0s do whatever the hell they want? Now its transfers and human slavery what if they decide to buy all the European clubs and move them to middle-east and force a 100 euro subscription to watch them? Would you be ok with football becoming a private company like Coca-Cola? Football is different. It unites cultures and people its not a private tool for the rich and their money. Football makes you forget the problems you face and the difficulties of life for 90 minutes, you can have a football game with 4 stones and 1 ball with your friends, I mean don't you get it? Its the peoples unofficial SPORT it should not be dictated by few old men and their lust for money and power.

Maybe its my barely average English that make you struggle, I can't help with that, or even my aggresive behavior towards your tolerance for the crimes of your club, if its that I honestly apologize but there is no way I will accept your ignorance towards the sport I grew up with. Its not personal I don't hate you I simply despise your stance towards the situation. Last but not least I am apologizing for the Arsenal comment I made about you but try be on my shoes as I tried to be on yours and I honestly did try to understand you but I can't agree on 1% with you.

The thread was made for discussion I don't want it locked but as I said before could you give me an answer why are you so passive towards the situation? I would gladly exchange opinions with you in a more civilized way, without irony and mocking by your side and no aggresive behavior from mine.

@JozeV2. You're wasting your uttering common sense and grown up reasoning with this one.

@pelle you dumb... and obviously biased, yet you accuse others of pumping out opinions whilst your own responses don't actually contribute anything, obviously you don't like cheaters as you refer to all the previous times that there has been corruption in football. People are ALWAYS upset at cheaters and corruption, just because nothing was done prior, doesn't mean that we should accept it. When you accept corruption and cheating, it means there is an apathy and a loss of passion for football.. that is the downfall of any sport, when the fans lose passion for it.