UEFA FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY AS COMPLIANCE WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF FOOTBALL CLUBS’ FINANCIAL STABILITY AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE COMPETITION

Abstract

The UEFA Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations (hereinafter –UEFA Regulations) ^[1] provide a licensing system for clubs for admission to competitions such as the Champions League and the Europa League. These requirements are aimed at promoting fair play, which does not consider the difference in the property capabilities of clubs in the UEFA competitions. The requirements have a goal to improve the economic and financial situation of clubs, increase their transparency, reliability of funding sources and fulfill their debt obligations within the prescribed time limit. One of the requirements is that the clubs are not allowed to delay payments to other clubs and (or) their players, to delay tax or other mandatory payments. The decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (hereinafter – CAS) on disputes about the violation of licensing requirements and financial fair play^[2] provide a new look at the discussion about the fairness of financial fair play. The objectives of the Regulation of fair play are aimed at creating the conditions for the financial stability of football clubs and the integrity of the UEFA competitions. In turn, compliance with regulatory objectives may:

• Predetermine the non-legal nature of certain provisions of the UEFA Regulations or the UEFA Regulations as a whole.
  (2) Violate the principles of equal treatment in bringing to responsibility and (or) proportionality of the disciplinary sanctions applied.
• In this study, due to its limited scope, we will consider in detail only the second content of compliance with the objectives of the Regulation of the UEFA fair play by referring to CAS analysis of the principles of equal treatment in bringing to responsibility and (or) proportionality of disciplinary sanctions.