PSG and Manchester City under FFP review

La Liga has gone public with their Financial Fair Play complaints against Paris St Germain and Manchester City.

On Friday UEFA confirmed that they were investigating the finances of the French side but yesterday there were denials that City were under review.

FFP regulations are in place to limit the amount of money that any club can spend to create something of a level playing field with spending closely related to income.

Ten years ago PSG and City were nowhere near the biggest spenders in the game but with ownership switched to Gulf oil states they have been creating the headlines this summer.

A statement on the La Liga website explained: LaLiga, the association of Spain’s top football teams, is pleased that UEFA has opened a formal Financial Fair Play (FFP) investigation into Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The investigation comes after LaLiga formally requested such probes into PSG and Manchester City FC (Man City) in August.

“PSG is a habitual offender and has been violating UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations for years,” said LaLiga President Javier Tebas. “It is important that UEFA doesn’t just look at the most recent player transfers, but at PSG’s history of non-compliance. The transfers are merely the result of years of financial doping at PSG.”

LaLiga requested UEFA investigate the infringement of FFP regulations by PSG and Man City in separate letters dated Aug. 22, 2017. In the letters, LaLiga lays out that the financials of both clubs have no basis in the realities of the market. Specifically, both PSG and Man City benefit from sponsorships that make no economic sense and lack any fair value.

“PSG and Man City’s funding by state-aid distorts European competitions and creates an inflationary spiral that is irreparably harming the football industry,” said Tebas. “UEFA must enforce FFP regulations to avoid discrimination among clubs.”

LaLiga calls on UEFA to proceed with its investigation, taking into account the full history of PSG’s actions. Additionally, LaLiga calls on UEFA to open a similar investigation into Man City.

It is unlikely that any sanction could be applied to this season’s competition with PSG due in Glasgow next week to start their Champions League campaign against Celtic.

PSG spent £200m to sign Neymar from Barcelona with Kylian Mbappe signed ‘on loan’ from Mocaco with an agreement to pay £166m next summer.