Manchester United and Barcelona fined by UEFA for FFP breaches

Robert Lewandowski of FC Barcelona is tackled by Casemiro of Manchester United during the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-off leg two match between Manchester United and FC Barcelona at Old Trafford on February 23, 2023 in Manchester, England. 

Manchester United and Barcelona have been fined €300,000 (£257k, $337k) and €500,000 for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

UEFA announced the decision on Friday following the end of the “monitoring” during the 2022-23 season, which covered the period from 2019 until 2022. These punishments were handed out based on UEFA’s previous FFP rules, with new regulations coming in from next season.

United’s offence was reporting “minor break-even deficits”, meaning their losses for the financial year fell beyond UEFA’s requirement.

“While disappointed by the outcome, Manchester United accepts this fine for what UEFA acknowledges to be a minor technical breach of its previous Financial Fair Play rules,” a statement from United read.

“This reflected a change in the way that UEFA adjusted for COVID-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognise only €15m of the €281m of revenues lost due to the pandemic within the FFP calculation.

“Post-pandemic, the clubs’ revenues have recovered strongly and are forecast to reach a record level in the current financial year. The club continues to support the enforcement of rules to promote financial fair play and sustainability across domestic and European football.”

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United maintain that the fine is related to past issues and older FFP rules, meaning it will not impact their transfer budget for this summer.

Barcelona, meanwhile were fined for “wrongly reporting” profits on non-player sales during the 2022 financial year “which are not a relevant income under the regulations”.

The club said they would appeal what they considered a “disproportionate” decision, adding: “And it will go all the way to the last instance (Court of Arbitration for Sport), if necessary.”

Porto and Anderlecht were among the other clubs to be fined by UEFA, while AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Roma, Monaco, Inter Milan, Besiktas and Marseille avoided punishments.