Real Madrid, Barcelona - Champions League
Uli Hoeness, Bayern Munich chief has slammed the behaviour of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League draw, Hoeness barked: “For me this is ridiculous, it is unthinkable. We at Germany paid hundreds of millions of euros to Spain to get out of the s*** and then their clubs are exempted from paying their debt to pay for stars like Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi. This cannot be.”
Though, it’s a bit patronizing, Hoeness has a point: “Only Madrid owe more money than all the Bundesliga” he concluded.
His frustration is clear. Bundesliga clubs have to consider a tough a licensing system, that is designed to channel money into investments that are good for football and society (As can be seen here in this wonderful insight into German football academies), while La Liga is a regulation Wild West, where clubs could act as companies without concern of any particular law.
In this no man’s land, only the fittest survive and flourish. This has led to the rise of two major super clubs – much stronger than any European rival. However, it’s not really fair, especially if the Germans pay for it.
UEFA, with its financial fair play, is not really “fixing” football, because you can’t just regulate expenditure, you have to regulate income as well.
How? Through salary caps, better licensing systems, forced collective TV right deals, forced sell of shares to fans, and fixed minimum and maximum prices on players.
In short, UEFA should take a look at our suggested Financial Fair Play. Real Financial Fair Play 1.0.
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