PannickAtTheDisco
Well-Known Member
I'm interested in what you say about Chelsea. I felt exactly the same as you when Chelsea became genuine challengers and then champions thanks to Abramovitch. But in the end he threw his lot in with the 'istry boys because he couldn't stand the competition from City and he announced his Damascene conversion to Platini's FFP. And where I can't agree with you is that "Chelsea's investment is conveniently forgotten about" because I don't believe he's actually invested anything. I accept that he always intended that Chelsea should be able eventually to be successful and live within the means permitted by FFP, but then so did City. But Abramovitch had done exactly the same as Leeds and Portsmouth by making interest free) loans to the club (to be repaid within 180 days of him selling the club). Chelsea's debts are thus massive and Abramovitch/Chelsea have "taken advantage" of FFP to increase the club's debt to their holding company to well over £1 billion. Chelsea are rather vulnerable in the light of Abramovitch's difficulties with our government and the corona virus. I don't see what can be done about debt in football within the law but as PB points out to us FFP has made the problem worse not better and far from being the unqualified success for FFP that Platini claimed, Chelsea could be its most catastrophic failure. FFP doesn't protect clubs from owners who "walk away" unless they have made genuine investment and improved the financial stability of the club. We will notice that these two great failures of FFP - limiting genuine investment and protecting the financial stability of clubs - are supposed to be the great achievements of which UEFA are most proud.
Secondly, I note the use of the phrase "financial doping". I know very well you are using this Wengerism to mock the way supporters of FFP use it and I know you use it to show your contempt of the concept behind it but unfortunately many on here and at large don't. Wenger of course coined the phrase to refer to the use of illegal and immoral monies (ie shareholders' money) to improve performance just as athletes used performance enhancing drugs. This is, as we all can see clearly, typical typical of the nonsense spouted by Archbishop Arsene
Last time I went through the myriad of Chelsea's parent entities, the total debt stood at about £1.3 billion, contrast that to City...