Platini hits out at free-spending European clubs

UEFA president Michel Platini on Wednesday slammed the free-spending attitude of European football clubs, notably in the English Premier League, which he claims is destroying the sport.

And the former France international said the only way to save the sport was to return to old-fashioned economics of not spending more than you earn.

“Everywhere that football was managed in a fashion of unbridled liberalism, its financial health is threatened,” Platini told the European Union’s Committee of the Regions.

“In many cases, professional clubs, the property of private investors, have had to beg aid from local authorities or regions to avoid bankruptcy.”

Platini defended his Financial Fair Play concept, aimed at improving the financial fairness in European competitions and the long-term stability of club football.

The plan includes forcing clubs whose turnover is over a certain threshold, over a period of time, to balance their books and provide guidance on salaries and transfer spending.

If a club is in debt and not financially stable for three years, they risk being excluded from the Champions League.

“There are a lot of people who are living in financial disorder and who profit from it,” said Platini.

“We have to go from a system based on the generosity of big sponsors to a system based on principles, financial orthodoxy, balanced budgets and self-sufficiency. You don’t spent more than you earn.”

Platini added: “The big European clubs have understood that professional football was on the brink of the abyss and seized the chance that we offered them to develop a more viable financial model.”

According to a report published by European football’s governing body in February, English Premier League clubs have a combined debt of 3.8 billion euros, more than the combined total of all the other European top flight clubs.