Uefa Concern Over English Finances
European football governing body UEFA has stated its concern about the financial state of English Premier League clubs.
UEFA general secretary David Taylor warned that some clubs are in danger if they keep living beyond their means.
He said: ‘There are stories concerning some English clubs that are of significant concern. There are a number of English clubs where the value of the club itself has fallen significantly and they are effectively on the market.
‘We hope that the clubs themselves will not suffer in any significant way from this but who knows? We’ve seen what has happened in recent years with a number of very high-profile clubs, Leeds United for example. They fell into serious financial difficulties by over-extending themselves.’
Leeds reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001 but after failing to qualify for the competition the following season the loss of television revenue took its toll on the club.
Their top players were sold to try to offset the loss of income, but after narrowly avoiding relegation in 2003 they eventually slipped out of the Premier League a year later.
The club’s Elland Road ground was sold, as was the training ground, and despite reaching the Championship play-off final in 2006 the club went into administration the following season as they were relegated to the third tier of English football.
Asked whether a Premier League club could ‘do a Leeds’ again in the near future, Taylor replied: ‘In this current economic environment, I would never say never to anything like that. Clearly we do not see that as imminent but the concern is that we have to establish a stronger financial basis on which clubs can compete.’
As well as debt-ridden clubs, Taylor also conceded there was ‘disquiet’ in UEFA over the transfer dealings of Spanish giants Real Madrid and Manchester City this summer.
La Liga club Real paid a world record fee of £80m to sign Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United and also signed Brazilian playmaker Kaka from AC Milan for a fee of £56m – bringing their total spending to in excess of £200m.
City, meanwhile, backed by their oil-rich owners from Abu Dhabi, have signed former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez, midfielder Gareth Barry, striker Roque Santa Cruz, and former Arsenal pair Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure.
‘I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising, a little bit destabilising of the market,’ Taylor said of the dealings of the two clubs.
‘It is certainly raising the ante in terms of the player costs, in terms of the general market place, which is not a thing that gives us a great deal of comfort in these difficult times. There is certainly disquiet in the corridors of power here.’
