Potential Deduction of Points for Barcelona in Champions League Due to Financial Fair Play Violations
Barcelona in the Hot Seat Again: Another Financial Fair Play Breach!
It's deja vu all over again for Barcelona, as they've been hit with another financial fair play (FFP) breach accusation. UEFA has been scrutinizing their books, criticizing the club for dubious accounting practices concerning income from the sale of intangible assets. This time, it's their television rights that have raised eyebrows.
Back in 2022, Barcelona sold a chunk of their TV rights to investment fund Sixth Street, bagging a cool €267 million over 25 years. The club reported this windfall as "other operating income," making their financial fair play compliance figures look peachy. But UEFA wasn't having it – they reckoned these funds should be attributed to "profit from the disposal of intangible assets," a category not included in acceptable loss calculations. And so, UEFA slapped Barcelona with a €500,000 fine for this initial violation.
Not one to learn from their mistakes, Barcelona kept their game face on for another TV rights sale in 2022. This time, they sold 15% of their TV magic for €400 million. Guess what? They labeled this influx of cash as operational income, too. Good news for them, not for UEFA – questions about Barcelona's reporting practices continued to swirl.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport subsequently confirmed that Barcelona's treatment of both TV rights transactions was not in adherence with FFP rules. Ouch!
Now, UEFA's got Barcelona right where they want them. If this FFP offender is found to have repeatedly breached financial fair play, they could face some heavy consequences in the 2025/26 Champions League season. Possible penalties include deductions of points in the group stage and restrictions on the number of players they can register for the tournament.
Chelsea and Aston Villa have also found themselves on UEFA's naughty list for FFP violations, albeit only once. Given that it's their first offense, they might slip away with lighter punishments. We can expect UEFA's Club Financial Control Body to publish their final report on all these shenanigans soon.
As for Barcelona's on-field performance, they managed to rally and take home the Spanish league title, as well as the cup and super cup, last season. Their Champions League journey ended in the semifinals, where they were bested by Inter (3:4, 3:3) under the leadership of Hansi Flick.
Insider Info:
It seems Barcelona has a penchant for pushing the boundaries of UEFA's FFP regulations, particularly when it comes to the reporting of TV rights sales. In both 2022 transactions, they misclassified income from the sales as operating income, but UEFA argued that they should have been classified as profits from the disposal of intangible assets, rendering them ineligible to improve FFP standing. [1][3]
This misclassification violated UEFA's FFP rules, which permit a maximum loss of €200 million over three years. As Barcelona's reported profits from these sales were not accepted by UEFA, they face significantly harsher penalties for the repeated offense, including a large financial fine, squad size restrictions, and potentially historic points deductions in UEFA competitions. [1][3][5]
Negotiations between Barcelona's president Joan Laporta and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin are ongoing, which could impact the final severity of the sanctions. [5]
- Despite the financial fair play (FFP) breach accusations, Barcelona continues to push the boundaries with their reporting practices, particularly in the sale of their television rights.
- Barcelona's misclassification of income from the TV rights sales as operating income, instead of profits from the disposal of intangible assets, violated UEFA's FFP rules in two separate transactions in 2022.
- If Barcelona is found to have repeated the FFP offense, they could face severe consequences in the 2025/26 Champions League season, including deductions of points in the group stage, restrictions on the number of players they can register for the tournament, and significant financial fines.
- UEFA's Financial Control Body is expected to publish their final report on the ongoing financial investigations into Barcelona, Chelsea, and Aston Villa soon.
