Five years ago, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play, a set of rules designed to level the economic playing field in European football. But during his tenure as UEFA general secretary, Gianni Infantino went out of his way to ensure that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain avoided harsh punishment.
Der Spiegel reports that UEFA had spent months investigating nine clubs on suspicions they had massively violated, or were continuing to violate, the new set of budgetary rules. Among them were Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, two top European teams who had made waves in the industry due to the immeasurable wealth of their new owners. Manchester City had been sold to the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in 2008, while the emirate of Qatar had bought Paris Saint-Germain in 2011.
UEFA President Platini and General Secretary Gianni Infantino had repeatedly insisted in interviews that clubs found in violation of the FFP rules could expect harsh penalties. The most severe punishment: suspension from the Champions League. Given the strident rhetoric, the football world was shocked when UEFA reached settlement agreements with both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain in mid-May 2014.
The decisive ally to both of the clubs was the man whose job should have committed him to complete neutrality: UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino. The Football Leaks documents show just how unconscionably the top functionary sided with the newly wealthy clubs, both of which didn’t just violate the Financial Fair Play rules. They held them in contempt.
During the FFP proceedings, Infantino met with club bosses from Paris and Manchester on several occasions for secret talks, even supplying them with confidential materials. He proposed compromises that he was unauthorized to propose. In short: He betrayed his own organization.
The documents make it look as though Infantino, through his intervention, purposefully sought to thwart the so-called Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), the UEFA panel responsible for monitoring adherence to the Fair Play rules and for proposing penalties to be imposed on potential violators.
In another aspect of this scandal one can see the relentlessness and the backroom conversations can be reconstructed with the help of a data set that the whistleblower platform Football Leaks has made available to DER SPIEGEL and its partners in the international research network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC).
The documents provide a sense for who the actual decision-makers in the football business are. They lay bare just how ruthlessly and shamelessly these individuals amass their power in order to pursue their greed for even more money. They also reveal why national — and, more recently, international — competitions have become so predictable, why leagues from the Champions League, to the Bundesliga on down to Italy’s Serie A are monotonously won by the same teams over and over again.
The documents reveal Real, FC Bayern Munich, Juventus Turin, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, London-based Arsenal FC and AC Milan would go behind the backs of UEFA and the other clubs to work together to also develop an option for leaving the national leagues and their football associations behind entirely.
Seven competitors, organized in a cartel-like structure, were now exploring how they could nullify the established competitions. Competitions from which they had done quite well up to that Point.
The Telegraph reports that “Football Leaks” documents, which include emails, contracts and presentations relating to the clubs, claim Infantino was involved in helping the clubs achieve “favourable” settlements with Uefa – but that City had threatened to destroy the governing body with legal action. The leaks also claim that City, along with Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, were involved with clubs on the Continent in plans to set up a European Super League within three years.
City said the documents were “hacked or stolen” and “out of context”, adding: “The attempt to damage the club’s reputation is organised and clear.” Uefa said: “We cannot comment on specific cases due to confidentiality obligations which Uefa must respect.”
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Der Spiegel – L’Espresso – The Telegraph
