Aston Villa have been fined €60,000 (£50,670; US$66,430) by UEFA for the alleged late submission of their financial information for the 2023–24 season.
Roma have been hit harder in the pocket, to the tune of €2m (£1.7m; $2.2m) for failing to meet their financial fair play (FFP) targets for the financial year ending in June 2023.
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) met this week to assess clubs for the first time against the newly introduced squad cost rule (SCR).
The rule dictates that a club’s total expenditure on transfers, wages and agent fees cannot exceed a certain percentage of its income. For the 2023-24 season this was 90 per cent, but this will drop to 80 per cent for the 2024-25 campaign and then 70 per cent from 2025 onwards.
All clubs reported a squad cost ratio within the 90 percent limit but Villa and Marseille were penalized for submitting this late, with the Ligue 1 side incurring a €20,000 (£16,890; $22,140) fine.
Failure to meet the submission deadline is a violation of article 95 of UEFA’s club licensing and financial sustainability regulations.
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The Athletics contacted Villa for comment.
Villa’s transfer window this summer has been heavily influenced by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability (PSR) rules, with the club forced to sell domestic players to avoid sanctions.
Speaking this week about UEFA’s SCR and the Premier League’s PSR, Villa director of football Damian Vdiagany said: “They (SCR and PSR) are two different packages in two different hands. SCR forces you to sell expensive players. For example, to reduce our cost ratio, we had a big deal, which was (Moussa) to Al Ittihad. Although he cost a lot, the fact that we sold him for a lot of money means that we don’t have a big profit sell expensive players.
“But if you want to stay at PSR, you have to sell cheaper players and academy players. It’s almost impossible to match both. The EPL is not compatible with UEFA rules.”
Roma, meanwhile, were placed under a four-year deal by UEFA last year after failing to meet the governing body’s former FFP match condition, which has been replaced by the football revenue rule and SCR.
Roma “slightly” exceeded their financial targets for 2023 and were subsequently fined.
The Serie A club posted profits in the transfer market for 2022-23 and 2023-24, before recording a net loss of €64m in transfer spending this summer, according to Transfermarkt.
Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Monaco, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain were all also placed under settlement agreements by UEFA last year after failing to meet FFP targets, but none have been fined this time as the CFCB continues to monitor their progress. .
Istanbul Basaksehir, however, failed to meet their financial target for the 2023-24 season and could face a one-year suspension from UEFA club competitions if they fail to comply with FFP regulations during the 2024-25 campaign.
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(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
