UEFA boss Ceferin wants a salary cap in European football “as soon as possible”, everyone agrees. Player unions are irritated.
Only a year ago, the European football association UEFA passed new rules for financial justice. Now Alexander Ceferin calls the reform insufficient. The UEFA President demanded in the podcast “Men in Blazers” a salary cap in European football – “As soon as possible, that’s the future”.
The fact that he is expressing himself so clearly right now may have something to do with the medium. “Men in Blazers” is a New York-produced show primarily about football. Among other things, Ceferin used his appearance to promise a Champions League final to be held in the USA. “It’s possible. We started discussing it.”
Salary cap widely used in the US
Such sentences, regardless of their realism, attract attention in the United States. And also with the term Salary Cap the Americans can do a lot, more than the Europeans. Because salary caps and other strict rules are part of everyday life in US professional sports and ensure balanced leagues with changing masters.
Professional football league teams MLS are not allowed to spend more than $5.21 million on player salaries in the 2023 season, for example. A single professional must earn at least $85,444 per year, but no more than $651,250.
Although one can franchise They can also grant a star player up to $1.65 million per year through exemptions, but the Americans can’t keep up with European mega contracts. That’s why some see the upper salary limit as a brake on the MLS, while the US league is miles behind in terms of sport.
Enormous inequality in Europe
In Europe the situation is diametrically different. The barely curbed market and the sometimes double-digit million salaries contribute to enormous inequality within the national leagues and also in European comparison. “If the same five clubs always win, it doesn’t make sense anymore,” said Ceferin. In order to ensure the value of the competitions, a Salary Cap important.
UEFA originally wanted monetary betting through the so-called Financial Fair Play regulate. However, because this remained ineffective, UEFA abolished it and replaced it with the regulation in June 2022.” financial sustainability” (financial sustainability).
Financial sustainability not enough?
This has two basic rules: A club may only spend 70 percent of its income from the football business on the squad – transfer fees included. A possible deficit may be offset by donors up to an amount of 30 million euros.
Ceferin now said that this rule is “Not good enough, because if your profits are five billion euros, 70 percent is quite a lot.”
salary cap based on UEFA meeting
At the meeting of the executive committee in early April 2022, Ceferin and, according to information from the sports show, German representatives wanted to introduce an absolute salary cap, but failed. A cap to a lavish 500 million euros per season and squad was under discussion.
Ceferin was now more optimistic that a joint solution would be found. “Surprisingly, everyone agrees. Big clubs, small clubs, state clubs, billionaire-run clubs, everyone agrees.” In view of possible legal hurdles, he has already spoken to the EU Commission about this, said Ceferin.
player unions PFA and VDV express criticism
Criticism of the UEFA boss’s words came from the UK players’ union PFA. “When players read that ‘everyone agrees’ to cap their wages, I think they’re right to be upset,” PFA chief Maheta Molango said BBC. “The players need to be treated as the most important players and they need to be at the center of these conversations.”
The German players’ union VDV also reacted reservedly to sports show requests. “If UEFA is concerned with making the European club competitions more balanced in terms of sport, the first step should be to discuss the distribution key for centrally marketed income and the competition formats,” wrote the association. “The sole introduction of salary caps would not be a panacea – if only because of the possibility of circumventing them.”.
In addition, upper salary limits in Germany can only be agreed with legal certainty via a collective agreement. “In this regard, the VDV is open to talks.”