mancityblues.com

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino wants to throw top clubs out of the Champions league if they can't manage their debts.
Uefa's study will show that half of Europe's professional clubs are running at a loss while 20% are recording deficits.
From 2012-13 clubs in the Champs league will have to show they break even.
It's commendable that Uefa want to put some kind of a break on spiralling wages in the industry - and football is a major part of the entertainment industry - but have they really considered the implications?

What effect will it have on the competition if they bar clubs like ours (haha, Yes, ours was mentioned!) or Manyoo? lots of clubs, as businesses, find it necessary to borrow in order to finance their success, or attempt at success, because the rewards are so great. Revenue from ticket sales and TV plus sponsorship and advertising will always attract the interest of private investors, that's capitalism, and that's what rules our world.

The danger is that Uefa will lower the bar, that the Champions league will become a second-rate affair that includes only the prudent and excludes the entrepreneur, becoming dull and boring in the process. It will also be seen as an attempt to stifle the English game, as more premiership clubs will be affected than, say, Swedish clubs. Or, dare I say, French and Italian clubs.

"Ah! Waldo!"

M.Platini's lack of guile and "Little Caesar" persona must have been seen as an embarrassment and so they've replaced Dick Dastardly with Mr Magoo, who can't read the script but can repeat everything Platini tells him;

"It is clear that if we continue like this it will end up with a spiral of inflation, so we need to bring a more rational and reasonable approach to this crazy game."

Where has he been the last twenty years? Why have they allowed it to get this far? Because it was in their interests that the CL became a major attraction, now they can't handle it, they are sportsmen grown fat and idle, longing for a past that probably never existed, not businessmen.

"Revenues across European football grew by 10 per cent last year, but the salaries of the players and coaches have gone up by around 18 per cent."

Statistics, statistics - did they factor in that last year the western world was in one of the deepest recessions in history? I doubt that, they quote only figures that appear to support their case. And why shouldn't the best players and coaches be paid the best if they are the best?

"We want a healthier environment which will allow smaller clubs to invest in their infrastructure and be able to compete with the bigger clubs, knowing that they can only spend what they earn."

Oh dear, can somebody explain to him the principle of the free market before I shoot myself?

This whole thing will go away before it is implemented I'm sure. Business on the scale of football needs business brains in charge, not pezzonovanti like Platini and Infantino enjoying long lunches in Monaco, while telling us how to manage our affairs

CLEVBLUE