Reasonable Arguments against Financial Fair Play

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

It's an ingenous mechanism to protect the elite. How else do you explain a system that allows debt, but doesn't allow a benefactor to build a club with his own money?

Of course you can argue that clubs should be run according to their means, but how does this allow anyone to challenge the status quo?

Oh the irony of having the word 'fair' in there.

Exactly this. Those of us that remember the sensational Nottingham Forest side that the late Brian Clough built in the late 70's/80's, that went on to win the European Cup. That will never happen again. And I mean it will never happen again! Where's the FAIR in that.

 

[JGL07]

FFP will effectively freeze the heirarchy in European football for all time if implemented strictly.

Those who regulars in the CL group stages will be able to outspend everyone else in their domestic leagues.

If it had been implemented three or four years ago, we would have had a permanent top four consisting of Arsenal, United, Liverpool and Chelsea. That would have prevented the likes of Spurs and City ever putting in a challenge. The gap would grow year by year.

There would have been a similar situation in Italy with Inter, Milan, Roma, and possibly Juventus dominating. Spain would probably have Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia and maybe Sevilla.

It would lead to total predictability and boredom. Is that what UEFA want?

I suspect that the provisions are unsustainable in the event of legal action by City or Chelsea.

 

[andrewmswift]

It's an illogical half measure. if the premise is that 'financial doping' is cheating, then anyone that says that to you logically must be assumed to be in favour of a far more equitable system. While we're at it, we may as well deal with the clubs that happen to have grown up in large conurbations with vast natural support bases, that small town clubs cant get.

in brief: that all money earned by each and every team in the division is pooled. From every sponsorship deal, to every keyring in the club shop. every player sale to the last half time pie. all the money gets chucked into one big pot which is shared *equally* between every premier league club. prize money is awarded, but is marginal, so the best teams get maybe 5% more than the very worst. play on. there'd be a different winner every year.

Can you see anyone wanting that? No, nor can i. football ceased to be a sport the minute it turned pro in 1880-odd. FFPR is an exercise in anti-competition, and will be suspended within two years because someone finds some eu law that it wantonly controvenes.

This is similar to how it works in the US for their MLB. Everyone knows about the Yankees around the world as they are one of the most popular sports franchises on the planet and one of the most profitable. But, they don't win it every year. Part because of the shared revenue system, and part because of the salary cap and player drafting system.

That would be the only way to level the playing field, but none of the clubs that benefit from the current system, as well as the forthcoming FFP rules, would ever want a system that gives Wigan an advantage to pick the best perceived player available based on their lowly position in the table. It would also throw a huge wrench in the promotion/relegation system.

Not really. The much better U.S. analogy is pro football and basketball, which have strict salary caps and much more financial parity. Baseball is much more like pre-FFP days. It doesn't actually have a salary cap, and the luxury tax and shared revenue systems are much too small to create an actually level playing field.

 

[Newman Noggs]

It would lead to total predictability and boredom. Is that what UEFA want?
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In short, yes. Predictability is exactly what UEFA want to support their business model. from their point of view they want a Barcelona v united final every year because the marketing prospects of such a game against that of say Rubin Kazan v Anzhi Makhachkala don't bear comparison.

As far as boredom is concerned. The current UEFA incumbents don't give a shit any more than any presiding government gives a shit about leaving a failing economy for their successors.