BluessinceHydeRoad
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 26 Mar 2012
- Messages
- 2,562
If UEFA imposed a salary cap, the clubs will find away around it. This salary cap if introduced will only benefit the clubs from the big 6 countries. It will be of no benefit to the countries like the Czech republic, Iceland etc. This where the players wages are already well below what other parts of Europe.
So what will be the point of a salary cap.
The one and only way around this problem is to have something along the lines of which I call COP. This stands for CAN OWNERS PAY. In other words for example Man UTD. owe millions of pounds to the bank. Should the bank say to Mr Ed Woodward, you now have 2 months to pay of at least 50% of the clubs debt. If this is not possible then we have only 1 choice and that is to withdraw any more finance for the club and to file for bankruptcy.
Any owners taking over a club that is in debt. Will have to show that they have sufficient funds to cover the debt at by X3. This is just in case the banks come calling for their money.
There is no doubt that clubs would find a way round a UEFA salary cap and there is no doubt that UEFA would allow CERTAIN clubs a way round a salary cap. Just as in 1904 one club would NOT be allowed any escape but it is now 2020 and governments do not consider wages paid by any business to be any business of the state and therefore owners of football clubs really would drag UEFA through every court in Europe if they were put at a competitive disadvantage. It would be impossible for UEFA to apply a cap consistently without alienating the cartel while avoiding humiliation in court for anti-competitive action and commercial discrimination. This is several steps too far even for the concrete skulls at UEFA - especially at a time when a part of City's case against UEFA is the idiosyncratic, eccentric and downright discriminatory way FFP is applied.
With regards to your COP I am sympathetic personally though I think there are real problems in application. Debt is an accepted way of financing investment in the world economy and UEFA shied away from dealing with debt because certain clubs threatened legal action. A bank can wind up a club for debt but no bank would ever tolerate being told by UEFA to wind up a club and UEFA would ever dare to wind up a club. As we are constantly reminded, debt is something most of us have - in particular to buy a house or a car etc - and we pay it off over quite a long period. How many of us could meet a demand to pay off half what we owe on our house in two months or get out! I do think investment is the answer to club finance, investment guaranteed by income and/or cash which owners/shareholders do produce but it is hard to see how this can be achieved within the framework of English and/or European law. The Glazers could not have bought a club and then saddled it with the cost in the USA but in England it's fine. UEFA are going to find out that FFP is, however, completely, totally and utterly unlawful and unenforceable when it fiddles with sponsorship and breaking even.