PSG in line with FFP but remain ´under scrutiny´

Paris Saint-Germain have for now been cleared of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations but the Ligue 1 champions’ recent transfer dealings will remain under scrutiny.

European football’s governing body announced on Wednesday that it had reviewed transfer contracts and analysed management related accounts and deemed these to be in line with FFP regulations.

It added that PSG’s break-even result “remains within acceptable deviation” for the financial years 2015, 2016 and 2017. However, UEFA added that PSG will “remain under close scrutiny and will be thoroughly looked at in the coming weeks”.

Omnisport understands that PSG will face sanctions if they are unable to raise €60m in income by the end of June.

A statement released by UEFA read: “The CFCB (Club Financial Control Body) decided to close the investigation into Paris Saint-Germain. Such decision follows a detailed review of transfer contracts and an analysis of the related management accounts which confirmed that such transactions were in line with the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.

“Furthermore, the chamber concluded that after significant fair value adjustments of several club sponsorship contracts – on the basis of evaluations performed by independent third party assessors – the break-even result of the club remains within acceptable deviation for the financial years ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

“The financial impact of transfer activities as from the 2017 summer – up to and including the upcoming transfer window – and compliance with the break-even requirement for the 2018 financial year will remain under close scrutiny and will be thoroughly looked at in the coming weeks.”

UK newspaper the Financial Times reported in April that PSG could be sanctioned under FFP rules having secured sponsorship deals valued at more than the fair market rate.

The contracts were reported to be worth in the region of €200million, helping to cover the shortfall left by Neymar’s world-record move from Barcelona in August.

PSG also agreed to pay €155m to complete a permanent deal for Kylian Mbappe, who they signed on loan at the club from Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.

The club denied the Financial Times report.

PSG were previously punished under FFP rules in May 2014 when the Qatari-owned club’s sponsorship agreement with the Qatari Tourism Authority was judged to have an unfair value by UEFA’s independent investigation panel.

Along with a €60m fine – which was later reduced to €20m – PSG had their Champions League squad limited to 21 players in 2014-15, while spending restrictions were also imposed.