Wage system slated for Championship

English Championship clubs are set to agree to a UEFA-style financial fair-play system to curb wage-driven debt.

From the 2013/14 season, clubs throughout Europe will be forced to spend only what they earn in revenue in a ‘break-even’ requirement laid out by UEFA.

A similar system governing the Championship will be put forward at the Football League’s AGM in Cyprus on Thursday, and the body’s chairman Greg Clarke said the initial response has been largely positive.

“The Championship clubs voted to look at financial fair play and in principle decided that was the road they wanted to go down,” Clarke said.

“I think it’s essential, and the energy to solve this is coming from the clubs themselves.”

“It’s a perfect storm in that a lot of things have come together to make this happen, including of course the level of debt in the game – 700 million pounds in the Football League, most of that in the Championship – and big losses being racked up by the clubs.”

League One clubs are also expected to adopt a salary cap akin to that which governs League Two, where clubs are permitted to spend a maximum of 60 percent of their turnover on wages.

The news comes as accounting firm Deloitte released their annual report into football finances, revealing that more than one third of Championship clubs are paying more in wages than they are earning.

The report also shows salaries in the Premier League have risen by 64 million pounds to over 1.4 billion, inflating the league’s wages-to-revenue ratio to an all-time high of 68 percent.