Mourinho Laughs At Arsenal & Toothless FFP
Financial Fair Play - when it was first formulated and circulated amongst the sport - was much needed. The worry that first started to bloom amongst anxious rival fans like a toxic weed spread fast to the heirarchy of the game. For good reason as well.
The owners of the few clubs fortunate enough to have deep enough pockets to be able to do the equivalent of burning £50m had bottomless funds. Think Scrooge McDuck without the twee personality and charming storylines. They possessed the ability to paper over any weakness perceived by the manager of the club they owned by applying a plaster-cast comprised of nothing but banknotes. As fans of Arsenal, we noticed more than most. The cost-cutting regime that was in place at The Emirates was pruning things a little too keenly - not only was the fat trimmed where necessary but our aspirations and leading lights were also being snipped by the frugal secateurs.
Cesc. Hleb. Henry. Nasri. Van Persie. Song - to name but a few that were taken from us all in the name of lucre. Those days are behind us now thankfully. The storm cloud on the horizon that threatens the sunnier climes we now expect should have dissipated due to FFP, but it lurks menacingly due to the toothless nature and ridiculous loopholes manipulated by savvy Club Officials. This shouldn't be.
FFP rules state that the maximum permitted loss for clubs in the Premiership is £105m over 3 years unless the owner injects equity in which case the biggest permitted loss is £15m over 3years. There are no real wage restrictions in place and as long as the total wage bill is not over £52m per annum the FFP police likely won't have you on their radar.
Chelses have spent just over £471m over the last five years, bringing in £188m in the same period through sales alone. That leaves a net spend of £283m over 5years for the club that has changed completely thanks solely to Romans Roubles.
City have a net spend of £292m over 5years taking into account player acquisition and sales only. That leaves a lot of dosh to be sourced from sponsorship - for both clubs. Especially considering the meagre amount Chelsea get from Samsung per year currently - which is £18m per year. The sponsorship details for City are a tad murkier seeing as they are chiefly sponsored by Eithad - which is also owned by Sheikh Mansour.
FFP Police
UEFA were handed a golden opportunity when City breached the rules of FFP. This was a chance to show that the repercussions of such a flagrant disregard would be meted out with a swift dealing of justice. Not so. The £50m fine meekly handed to them is a slap to the face of all hard-working clubs and backroom staff. A monetary fine given to a club that has one of the worlds richest men at the helm is like punishing a morbidly obese person for not exercising by forcefeeding them doughnuts. The bigwigs at UEFA are to blame for this ridiculous oversight. The best was yet to come though.
City were also given a restriction on the size of squad they could use in European competition. A 21-man party would be allowed but not the regulatory 25-man squad that all other clubs could pick from. Another regulation that would really have sent the gold bars flying back at the Etihad was that City would have to include eight players who had come through the youth system. Off the top of my generously proportioned head I can think of one - Dedryck Boyata. So for eight of the 21 to meet that criteria would have left City undoubtedly exiting the Champions League at the Group Stage once again. Lo and Behold though - City find a loophole, manage to enlist the help of FIFPRO - the players union - and UEFA relent, lowering the eight to five. Without even taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. What message does this send out to other clubs?
It says that if you can get a sugar daddy, then you can whore yourself for whatever whims you desire. No matter that your actual revenue amounts to a tenth of what you're actually spending - don't even think of putting the chequebook away. You can spend what you wish as long as you have lawyers that are heavily schooled in bullsh*t and manipulation of the Queen's English.
The moment that sparked my typing fingers into this rant was actually highlighted by an intelligent and interesting fellow on twitter - @Orangeiceman10. His informed points regarding the irony of Mourinho's comments were illuminating and infuriating. My quickdraw temper wasn't aflame due to @Orangeiceman10 though - I was frothing because of Jose.
