Uncertainty over Liverpool and FFP rules

There is some uncertainty about whether or not Liverpool will satisfy Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules after the publication of broadly encouraging financial results earlier this week which the club claims will usher in a new era of financial stability.

Of course, there is uncertainty about how the rules will apply to any club, given that the devil is in the detail. The decisions will be as much political as legal ones and it is likely that Uefa, with a French president, will want to make an example of at least one Premier League club.

There is some uncertainty about whether or not Liverpool will satisfy Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules after the publication of broadly encouraging financial results earlier this week which the club claims will usher in a new era of financial stability.

Of course, there is uncertainty about how the rules will apply to any club, given that the devil is in the detail. The decisions will be as much political as legal ones and it is likely that Uefa, with a French president, will want to make an example of at least one Premier League club.

They will have to be careful how they proceed, however. Recently, Uefa brushed aside with not untypical confident complacency the threat of appeals against their decisions in the Court for the Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne. What they don’t seem to have factored is the possibility of more broadly based challenges in the European courts.

Some commentators have pointed out that FFP rules, which come into force next season, only allow losses of £37m between 2011 and 2013. Liverpool’s overall loss for that period stands at £90m.

Liverpool were not in Europe this year so will only come under scrutiny next season, provided they qualify for the Champions or Europa League. But despite the figures they may not fall foul of the rules.

Big losses do not necessarily equate to a breach of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations Spending on infrastructure is exempt from FFP calculations and the club has paid out millions in stadium-related projects in recent years, albeit the proposal for a new stadium in Stanley Park did not come to fruition. Expenditure on youth development can also be subtracted while there is an allowance for players’ contracts that were entered into before the introduction of the FFP rules in 2010.

However, club insiders are uncertain how much profit/loss they would have to make this season to comply. According to one report the club’s chances of ending up in trouble are put at three out of five.