European football’s governing body said Tuesday it was reopening a financial fair play case against big-spending French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Under UEFA financial rules clubs are forbidden from spending more than they earn and Qatar-owned PSG’s massive outlay on the transfer market last year that brought Neymar among others to the club raised eyebrows among financial officials.
UEFA announced in June that the probe opened last September had closed and while PSG escaped sanctions, the club remained under scrutiny.
“In light of the recent decision of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Chief Investigator to close the investigation into Paris Saint-Germain… the chairman of the CFCB has decided to send this decision for review by the Adjudicatory Chamber,” UEFA said in a statement.
“This announcement does not pre-judge in any way the result of the review to be conducted by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB.”
UEFA opened the investigation into PSG’s compliance with FFP rules just weeks after they completed deals to sign Brazilian superstar Neymar and French wunderkid Kylian Mbappe.
Neymar arrived for a world-record fee of 222 million euros ($264 million) from Barcelona, while the club acquired Mbappe on loan from Monaco but with an agreement to sign the teen sensation in a 180 million-euro deal at the end of this campaign.
UEFA rules mandate that clubs cannot spend more than they earn in any given season and deficits must fall within a 30-million-euro limit over three seasons.
If found guilty PSG could face exclusion from European competition for one or more seasons, a huge blow to the club’s Qatari owners who have made winning the Champions League their key goal.
Last week AC Milan were banned from next season’s Europa League over financial fair play violations.
“The club has been informed of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the CFCB’s request to review the decision taken by its chamber of investigation on June 13, 2018, to close the investigation,” PSG said in a statement.
The statement noted that the club had recently gone on a selling spree on the transfer market to improve their bottom line.
“The club outlines that it has succesfully carried out an important number of transfers in recent days in compliance with the CFBC’s decision and that it will continue, as it has done since September 1, 2017, to provide all information requested by the CFCB and UEFA.” – Agence France-Presse
