UEFA president says fair finance essential for football

PanARMENIAN.Net - UEFA president Michel Platini says he is ready to make unpopular decisions to protect football, such as excluding clubs from European competitions if they spend beyond their means.

Touching on his opposition to goal-line technology and his support for a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022 amongst other things, Platini said "financial fair-play" was essential in wider cash-strapped times.

"There's no lack of money. Clubs have never spent more. But it's bad financial management. We need to get rules in place... and there'll be no backtracking," said the former France captain.

"Governments are having to tighten their belts and it's not going down well in their countries. We (at UEFA) probably won't be popular but we have to do it, otherwise football will be destroyed."

UEFA's executive committee unanimously approved the concept of financial fair-play back in 2009, with the main aim of bringing "more discipline and rationality" to club finances, particularly over salaries and transfer fees.

Platini said there would be no exceptions, even if clubs with foreign owners like France's Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City in the English Premier League had deep enough pockets to operate at a loss, according to AFP.