NYON, Switzerland — UEFA is preparing to ease rules which limit how much Europe's top clubs spend on player transfers and wages. President Michel Platini told French broadcaster RTL in comments aired Monday that the UEFA executive committee could relax some Financial Fair Play regulations. Barely a year after UEFA fined big-spending Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain 20 million euros ($22.8 million) each for FFP violations, changes could be agreed at a June 29-30 meeting in Prague. UEFA has had regular talks with European clubs since October about modifying the rules, which first sanctioned clubs last season for spending above their income from football business. UEFA and the European Club Association declined to comment Monday on details of any proposals. One option could be allowing owners to invest more of their own money to chase or sustain success. When Platini launched the FFP project in 2009 he claimed support from some of Europe's wealthiest club owners — including at Chelsea, AC Milan and Inter Milan — saying they wanted to control spiraling spending. The Milan clubs, which share the city-owned San Siro stadium, have since fallen behind rivals' commercial income and now fail to qualify for the Champions League. In addition, the financial rules eventually detailed by UEFA were criticized for protecting established clubs such as Chelsea from challenges by opponents with ambitious new owners. Man City and PSG spent heavily signing players after being bought with sovereign wealth from Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively. Both clubs were punished by UEFA in the first round of sanctions last May while winning their national league titles. UEFA also imposed limits on the clubs' future transfer spending and salary bills, with further 20 million euro ($22.8 million) fines to be activated for breaches. The threats appeared to block Man City's interest in signing Radamel Falcao from Monaco last offseason. PSG also ended attempts to sign Angel di Maria from Real Madrid. Both players went to Manchester United which has greater commercial income from a longstanding global reputation. In the latest sanctions announced this month, Inter was fined 6 million euros ($6.8 million) and Monaco was fined 3 million euros ($3.4 million). — AP
