ZURICH, June 14 — French champions Paris St Germain have been cleared of breaking Uefa’s break-even rules following last summer’s transfer spending spree, European football’s ruling body said yesterday.
However, Uefa said the Qatari-owned club’s finances would remain under close scrutiny.
PSG bought Brazil forward Neymar for €222 million (RM1 billion), more than double the previous price paid for a player, and later signed Kylian Mbappe on loan from AS Monaco with an option to buy after one season.
That deal was reported to be worth €180 million.
Uefa said it had closed the investigation and that the club’s transfers from that period “were in line with the Uefa Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations”.
The decision followed a detailed review of transfer contracts and analysis of the related management accounts, Uefa said.
It added that PSG’s results for the financial years ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were accepted under the break-even rule, known as Financial Fair Play. Uefa said more recent transfer activities “will remain under close scrutiny and will be thoroughly looked at in the coming weeks”.
FFP rules ban clubs from spending more than their generated revenue, a policy introduced to prevent rich owners from trying to buy success and distorting the transfer market.
Clubs can ultimately be kicked out of European competition for flouting the rules although until now Uefa has tried to negotiate settlements with offenders. — Reuters
