UEFA have reportedly set their sights on Liverpool as the new financial fair play(FFP) rules start to take effect.
An announcement as early as Thursday is expected, requesting further documentation regarding the club’s spending and accounts be sent to the club financial control body (CFCB). A number of teams including AS Roma, Monaco and Inter Milan are expected to be named alongside Liverpool as clubs who are also being investigated. All of the clubs named were absent from European competition last season and as such have only recently submitted their financial records to be examined.
Liverpool posted a loss of just under £50m for the 2012-13 season, and a loss of £40m for the ten month period before that. FFP rules state that losses must be less than £35.4m for both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Liverpool are expected to try and classify parts of those losses as stadium expenses incurred under the disastrous Hicks and Gillett reign, which saw money being spent on an ambitious project for a new stadium that never came to fruition. FFP allows money spent on youth academies and stadium expenses to be written off.
No financial penalties are expected to be handed out to any of the teams involved at this stage, although a possible scenario could see any Champions League prize money from this season being withheld. The breaches are not being treated as anywhere near as serious as those which saw huge fines handed out to Manchester City and Paris St. Germain earlier this year. UEFA is currently facing legal actions brought by Belgian agent Daniel Striani in 2013 regarding the application and severity of financial fair play.
Andrew Bell
