Man Utd handed fine from UEFA after being penalised for FFP breach

14 July 2023 , 12:24

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Manchester United have been fined €300,00 (£256,785) by UEFA for breaching FFP rules.

In a statement, UEFA said: "During the 2022/23 season the CFCB First Chamber, chaired by Sunil Gulati, concluded the assessment of the break-even requirement covering the financial years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

"This is the last time the CFCB assessed the clubs on the basis of the “old” Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, Edition 2018. Manchester United FC (ENG), Konyaspor (TUR) and APOEL FC (CYP) reported minor break-even deficits. These clubs were fined respectively with €300,000, €100,000 and €100,000."

The fine comes with Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag being handed a restricted budget for the summer transfer window. That smaller budget is a result of club chiefs attempting to stay within the FFP guidelines.

United posted positive financial results last month with revenue up 11 per cent to £170million for the three months ending March 31. The report also included a projection that full year revenues will hit a record £630m to £640m.

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The club are currently undergoing a takeover process with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani battling to buy out the Glazers.

United have insisted that the fine is related to historic issues and previous FFP rules. In a statement, the Red Devils made it clear that there will be no impact on the budget for transfers this summer.

"While disappointed by the outcome, Manchester United accepts this fine for what UEFA acknowledges to be a minor technical breach of its previous Financial Fair Play rules," the statement read.

Manchester United have been fined by UEFA (PA)

"This reflected a change in the way that UEFA adjusted for COVID-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognise only €15m of the €281m of revenues lost due to the pandemic within the FFP calculation.

"Post pandemic, the clubs’ revenues have recovered strongly and are forecast to reach a record level in the current financial year.

"The club continues to support the enforcement of rules to promote financial fair play and sustainability across domestic and European football."

United were not the only club fined, with Barcelona being hit with a €500,000 penalty for wrongly reporting profits on disposal of intangible assets (other than player transfers) which are not a relevant income under the regulations.

Riga FC, NK Olimpija Ljubljana and ŠK Slovan Bratislava were all imposed a fine of €10,000 for failing to submit complete and accurate break-even information by the required deadline.

Meanwhile, RSC Anderlecht did not meet targets set by an earlier conditional agreement and was imposed a fine of €100,000. Istanbul Başakşehir also did not meet the targets set for the financial year 2022 and was imposed a fine of €400,000.

Finally, the CFCB First Chamber found that Royal Antwerp FC and Trabzonspor did not comply with the break-even requirement. In line with previous jurisprudence, the CFCB concluded settlement agreements with both clubs.