PRAGUE — UEFA has eased financial fair play rules on clubs in a bid to tempt investors after a tough three-year campaign to cut sky-high debt in the European game. With Gulf state-owned Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain still feeling the pain of sanctions ordered last year, UEFA's executive eased the rules at a meeting in Prague Monday. They will force clubs to give extra information on ownership, but will also start new voluntary financial revival plans to allow clubs to avoid sanctions and to spend on players if they have a “plausible and conservative” business plan. The new UEFA rules are clearly intended to attract investors and Europe's top clubs welcomed the move. “The financial fair play rules are a very important tool for clubs to control their economic situation,” said European Clubs Association president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of Bayern Munich. “Therefore, ECA calls on clubs to keep on supporting the financial fair play system and to work within the framework of the new financial fair play rules.” Since the introduction of Financial Fair Play in 2011 clubs have basically been ordered to live within their means. UEFA says that European clubs' overall debt has been cut from 1.7 billion euros ($1.89 billion) in 2011 to 487 million euros in 2014. UEFA President Michel Platini insisted that the new fair play is “an expansion and a strengthening” of the rules. “The overall objectives of financial fair play remain the same. We are just evolving from a period of austerity to one where we can offer more opportunities for sustainable growth and development,” he said. But UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino acknowledged legal challenges made against the rules and doubts raised by some clubs about the restrictions. “This is what we were hearing: ‘Why should we invest if it's forbidden. If I invest I am in breach (of fair play and) there are consequences,'” Infantino said after the executive committee approved the new rules. “We are sure that these new rules will encourage investors to invest in European football because European football is the best product in the world when it comes to club football.” In future, any sponsor that gives more than 30 percent of a club's revenue's will be considered a “related party” to the club. Cardiff to host 2017 Champs final The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host the 2017 Champions League final, Infantino said Tuesday. The Friends Arena in Stockholm will be the venue for the 2017 Europa League final. UEFA also said the Spanish league should stop challenging the decision to move the dates of the World Cup in 2022 to November-December. A Spanish appeal against FIFA's scheduling decision was filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. — Agencies
