UEFA threatens Barça with a harsh sanction

BarcelonaUEFA could severely sanction Barça for breaching its financial regulations for the second year in a row, according to reports. The TimesThe sanction could consist of a hefty fine, a reduction in the number of players Barça can register for the Champions League, or even a loss of points in Europe's top competition. UEFA's final decision will be announced in the coming weeks.

The crux of the matter is that UEFA believes Barça has misreported its profits. Specifically, European football's governing body invalidates the leverage from the sale of television rights as "other operating income"—the concept the Blaugrana club granted itself. In 2022, Barça sold 10% of its television rights to Sixth Street for the next 25 years for €267 million and counted them toward its profit. fair play (FFP). However, UEFA believes that "profits from the sale of intangible assets" should be considered, which cannot be included in the calculations of the fair play Financial. The same happened with the second tranche of the TV rights sale. Also in 2022, Barça sold an additional 15% of its TV rights to Sixth Street over 25 years for around €400 million.

In October 2023, the Catalan club received a €500,000 fine from UEFA for financial non-compliance in the 2022-2023 season, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld it in a ruling that already warned that Barça could face harsher sanctions if it breached UEFA's financial regulations again. "A similar failure by the club in the monitoring process for the 2023-2024 season would constitute a case of repeat offenses and would be addressed by the imposition of a more severe disciplinary measure for Barça," the ruling stated.

Barça is not the only team under threat of a UEFA sanction for financial non-compliance, according to The TimesChelsea and Aston Villa are also in this situation, but in the case of these English teams the sanction would be light because it would be the first time they have breached the fair play financial and the problem could be solved with a relatively small financial penalty.