UEFA have placed Rangers under Financial Fair Play scrutiny after fining eight clubs.
The European governing body is attempting to crack down on overspending and is imposing a break even requirement on clubs who are competing in UEFA competitions. This means they should not spend more money than they take in over a certain period. A Covid adjustment was made to give clubs some leeway, but even with those in place, a number of top clubs fell foul of the rules. Monaco, Marseille, Besiktas, AC Milan,. Juventus, Inter, Paris-SG and Roma were all fined by UEFA. Monaco received the lowest penalty of €300,000 while Ligue 1 rivals PSG were hit hardest with a €10million fine slapped on them.
Chelsea, Leicester, West Ham and Man City only avoided sanctions due to the special Covid allowances being in place and achieving break even results in previous seasons. But their financial dealings will be monitored closely as a result. Rangers are the other British club under the beady eye of the beaks.
Following the Club Financial Control Body First Chamber meeting, UEFA confirmed that the Light Blues were one of a host of clubs being asked to provide more financial information and are being monitored.
A statement read: "Finally, the CFCB First Chamber also observed that another 19 clubs that took part in the 2021/22 UEFA club competitions, namely Borussia Dortmund (GER), Chelsea FC (ENG), FC Barcelona (ESP) , FC Basel 1893 (SUI), 1.FC Union Berlin (GER), Fenerbahçe SK (TUR), Feyenoord (NED), Leicester City FC (ENG), Manchester City FC (ENG), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), Rangers (SC O ), Real Betis Balompié (ESP), Royal Antwerp FC (BEL), Sevilla FC (ESP), SS Lazio (ITA), SSC Napoli (ITA), Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR), VFL Wolfsburg (GER) and West Ham United FC (ENG), were able to technically fulfil the break-even requirement thanks to the application of the COVID-19 emergency measures and/or because they benefited from historical positive break-even results (T-3 and T-4).
"The CFCB First Chamber reminded these clubs that as from financial year 2023 these exceptional COVID deductions and consideration of historical financial results will no longer be possible. These clubs were further asked for additional financial information and will be monitored closely in the upcoming period. The goal of course is that the clubs’ overall financial situation is in compliance with the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Sustainability Regulations – Edition 2022 in coming years."
The money brought in by Rangers from player sales over the summer could help them avoid sanctions, however. Calvin Bassey went for a club record £19million to next week's Champions League opponents Ajax, while Joe Aribo joined Southampton for what could eventually be £10million.
READ NEXT:
