Financial Fair Play: English clubs in spotlight as Uefa acknowledges concerns over super-rich elite
Europe's biggest clubs, many of them English, could face new restrictions designed to curb their increasing financial might, according to governing body Uefa.
Uefa's senior benchmarking manager Perry Sefton said the organisation's latest annual report on the game's financial landscape showed there were now "15 to 16 truly global clubs, five or six them in the UK" whose resources dwarfed those beneath them.
English teams comprise 14 of the top 20 richest in the world, according to Deloitte, while French clubs have been among those to express concerns that Premier League sides, who are set to benefit from a new £5bn television contract next year, are becoming too powerful.
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Uefa head of club licensing and financial fair play (FFP) Andrea Traverso said the governing body would discuss whether FFP rules should be changed to address to bridge the wealth gap.
"The current environment is pointing to the fact that a group of clubs have exploited success on the pitchh, of the market in which they operate, and their internal capacity better than others and therefore generate more revenues than other clubs," he told the Leaders Sport Business Summit today in London.
"In future it remains to be seen whether this gap continues to increase and whether other clubs will be able to catch up. This is not an easy question. We don't have a crystal ball. It depends on many variables, first of all the strength of the compeition in which those clubs operate.
"Having said that, it certainly represents a challenge for the future. We at Uefa have taken note of that situation and we're anlysing it and we'll discuss how to face it in the future. If this represents a threat or opportunity for European clubs remains to be seen. But we are discussing it and we'll see."