Liverpool Supremo John Henry Concerned Over Flouting of UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules

Thursday, 9th August, 2012

Liverpool principal owner John Henry is concerned that a number of clubs appear to be ignoring UEFA’s financial fair play rules.

FFP gave Henry’s Fenway Sports Group much room for optimism that Liverpool’s worldwide brand and revenues would allow the club to compete with Europe’s elite, but clubs with rich owners appear to be flouting UEFA’s directive and spending at levels with which the Merseyside giants cannot compete.

In England, Manchester City and Chelsea have splashed the cash, while Paris Saint-Germain are spending large amounts reshaping their side, having hoovered up Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Marco Verratti and Ezequiel Lavezzi this summer, while Lucas Moura is due to arrive in January 2013.

For Henry the situation is a concern and could even lead to rules set by Premier League clubs rather than UEFA, in an attempt to combat what has been seen by some as financial doping.

Asked by fan-run website The Tomkins Times, about concerns over clubs making losses which should invite sanction according to financial fair play, Henry was clear on his views.

“The mandate of financial fair play in Europe is for clubs to live within their means. Recently I was told that half of the clubs in the top divisions within Europe are losing money and 20% are in straits of varying degrees”, insisted Henry.

“It’s up to LFC to invest properly in players going forward so that the club cannot only be sustainable, but a powerhouse. This club should be able to significantly increase its revenues.”

And this may require a Premier League led solution, with Henry sure there is significant support for his position.

“There are a lot of clubs within the league that support financial fair play”, said the American.

“We believe that the league itself may have to adopt its own rules, given that clubs seem to be ignoring UEFA’s rules, which may be porous enough to enable clubs to say that the trend of huge losses is positive and therefore be exempt from any meaningful sanctions.”

It remains to be seen what action Liverpool could attempt to initiate within the forum of the Premier League to introduce a league-specific financial fair play element and it is unclear if there would be majority support for such an idea.

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