Get ready for PSG v UEFA in court
IF REPORTS are correct and Paris Saint-Germain are about to buy Kylian Mbappe, it can mean only one thing: they are now prepared to go to court over financial fair play. At the end of this campaign, PSG are going to be assessed by UEFA over a period of three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-18, and there is no way they can rustle up revenue streams to cover such enormous transfer outlay. This means an appearance before UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body where, since they have already been fined for a previous offence, any punishment is likely to be elevated to suspension from European competition. Certainly that is what PSG’s rivals, the traditional elite whose position at the pinnacle is threatened, will push for. Leaving aside the reaction from UEFA’s commercial partners — who certainly didn’t sponsor the competition so the best players could be left in limbo to keep Bayern Munich happy — the likely upshot of any playing sanction is a court case. The old version of FFP went down the tubes at the first hint of a legal challenge, and UEFA will fear a repeat for their revamped rulebook. Certainly they will run out of money long before Qatar do, the first fear of any respondent. They can argue PSG knew the rules before entering, which they did. PSG can argue restraint of trade, which it is. If a club owner can afford the transfers, why shouldn’t the club be able to facilitate them? And why do UEFA alone get to define financial fair play? Equally, if PSG challenge, don’t think others won’t enlist. Manchester City, certainly, will be watching any developments with interest, even if joining forces with a Qatari investment fund means holding their noses a little.