ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Charities
    5. Coronavirus
    6. Corporate and financial reporting
    7. Business and governance
    8. Ethics
    9. Insolvency
    10. ICAS Research
    11. Pensions
    12. Practice
    13. Public sector
    14. Sustainability
    15. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

Is UEFA on the ball with financial fair play rules?

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By ICAS

1 January 2015

Sports finance academic Stephen Morrow CA assesses the new UEFA financial fair play rules.

European football's governing body has introduced new regulations designed to force football clubs to live within their means.

However, a study for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) by leading sports finance academic Stephen Morrow asks if UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations are a match for the challenges clubs face in balancing the books.

English Premier League champions Manchester City and French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain are among nine clubs which have faced sanctions over alleged non-compliance with the new rules and central to these is a three-year break-even rule which is designed to foster longer-term planning and decision-making.

Penalties for breaching the rules can involve fines, squad reductions for tournaments, a wage cap and ultimately disqualification from competitions or removal of titles.

Financial Fair Play - Implications for Football Club Financial Reporting explores the potential impact of the FFP rules on clubs, fans and football club accounting professionals.

Stephen - a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and Senior Lecturer in Sports Finance at the University of Stirling, Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence, makes a series of recommendations to ensure that FFP strikes the right balance in establishing robust financial rules that are in the best interests of the clubs and fans.

This ICAS paper is published following a UEFA report which revealed that auditors at approximately one in seven European football clubs expressed uncertainty about the financial future of those clubs.

Stephen undertook interviews with: finance directors of clubs in England and Scotland who were most likely to be affected by the new rules; representatives of clubs' auditors; football finance experts; and representatives of governing bodies and leagues.

He found there was acceptance of the need for financial regulation of football to ensure clubs break-even and manage their businesses in a sustainable manner - avoiding the pitfalls that have led to heartbreak for so many football fans who have seen their clubs hit hard times

Despite overall support for FFP, his findings highlight a number of concerns about the regulations, including:

  1. The willingness and capacity for UEFA to enforce the rules in the face of powerful and wealthy clubs, although the recent actions by UEFA may demonstrate its readiness to do so.
  2. The irony and logic of using financial penalties for clubs who break rules which are supposed to improve club financial management.
  3. The potential for 'double jeopardy', where a club which has been fined once might find it harder to break-even again in the future and thus risk further sanctions.
  4. The lack of recognition for the importance of cash, which is fundamental to the business of football.

The paper also identifies weaknesses in football club financial reporting.

Central to the ICAS paper is the need to ensure that the FFP rules are tightly aligned and wholly relevant to the financial viability of football clubs. Stephen acknowledges that the FFP regulations are a work in progress by UEFA and makes a series of recommendations including:

  • That clubs should disclose their break-even calculation and reconcile this to their reported profit or loss in their financial statements.
  • That UEFA should give greater consideration to including cash control measures in the regulations.
  • That FFP sanctions should not be financial in nature.
  • That UEFA reviews the regulations to ensure clubs in breach do not fall foul of 'double jeopardy'.

Stephen Morrow said, "The introduction of UEFA's FFP regulations provides an opportunity not only to improve the financial management of football clubs but also, indirectly, to focus attention on how best to enhance financial communication in an industry with such distinct and engaged stakeholders."

Michelle Crickett, Director of Research at ICAS commented, "The FFP regulations are to be welcomed, but we would encourage UEFA to be mindful of the fact that the detailed rules and guidance included in the regulations could encourage clubs to seek loopholes in the rules and thus not comply with the intended spirit of the regulations. Also there is a need to recognise that break-even under the FFP regulations is not the same as financial viability."

Read the report here

2022-01-xero 2022-01-xero
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: