June 15, (THEWILL)- Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has called on football authorities to toughen sanctions against clubs like Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain that are owned by countries.
The respective champions of England and France, who have been previously investigated for Financial Fair Play violations, have supplied with vast sums of money to spend, so that they can reach and maintain their positions at the top of the sport.
Laporta disclosed that he has requested UEFA to intervene to help defend the game, as teams like City and PSG compete with different resources than the rest of Europe. He said: “The state clubs are a problem, because they provoke an instability of our sport, of football in Europe. I’m asking for rules that have to be more strict for these kinds of clubs because the resources they are using in football doesn’t come from the football industry.
“In our case, and most of the clubs in Europe, the resources that we are generating come from the industry of sports…and these state clubs are not using the same tools in order to compete. It is complicated to compete with these clubs that have a lot of big players spread around the world. And when you go to the market to buy players, it’s difficult to compete.
“I ask the regulators like UEFA and leagues of each country to be stricter, or at least harmonise all the rules. Because, for instance, in Spain we have rules much more strict than in France or the Premier League.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
