No salary cap
The core of the new rules, which will come into force on June 22nd, are based on the three pillars of cost control, stability and solvency. Accordingly, the clubs may not spend more than 70 percent of their income on transfers, salaries and consultant fees. However, there will be no upper salary limit, as demanded by many.
“The football industry has changed. The reform was necessary”, said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin after the UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Nyon: “The new rules help us protect the game.”
The guidelines, which were co-developed by the European Club Association ECA, are to be introduced in a continuous process over three years. Violations of the rules can range from fines to point deductions. The possible forced relegation discussed, for example from the Champions to the Europa League, has not yet been decided.
In the future, an external donor should be able to compensate for a difference between income and expenditure of up to 60 million euros over a period of three years. So far it has been 30 million euros over three years. The unlimited inflow of investor funds feared by German clubs in particular should therefore not exist.
In future, the clubs’ solvency will be checked four times a year, once by national license inspectors and three times by UEFA financial experts.
Russia exclusion and EM application: “We advise”
UEFA has not yet decided whether the Russian association will be excluded as a result of the Ukraine war. “We’re still discussing it,” said Ceferin after the session. The Russian bid to host the EM finals in 2028 and 2032 will also continue to be “discussed”.
No decision has yet been made on the course of the European Women’s Football Championship in England (July 6th to 31st). Ceferin referred to the still pending case before the International Sports Court CAS, which is about the already decided exclusion of the Russian teams from the UEFA competitions. “We have to decide soon, but need more information,” said Ceferin. The Russian team would actually have played in Group C against defending champions Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.
Source: red/dpa/sid