Do we need rules to stop football teams like Man City from simply buying success?
YES
David Hellier
Not before time, new rules are being introduced that should help keep Europe’s football clubs on the straight and narrow financially and prevent them, Manchester City or Chelsea-style, from buying the game’s top honours. The new rules will theoretically put an end to a period during which multi-millions have been spent buying star players in deals that can never generate financial returns. The influx of money from overseas tycoons has created a gulf that the likes of Aston Villa or Derby (remember they were both league champions once) can never bridge, unless they attract benefactors of their own. And it has also aided the import of overpaid tetchy stars such as Carlos Tevez at the expense of well thought out youth policies that would bring sustainable long-term rewards and enable more of the nation’s young players to live out their dreams.
David Hellier is deputy editor of Morning Wire
NO
Julian Harris
The action-packed finale to the Premier League season showed off much that is great about modern football, as Manchester City grasped the title with two frantic injury time goals. Admittedly there is much to dislike, too: quiet all-seater stadia, a disregard for loyal fans, unfortunate chairmen, et cetera. But these won’t be solved by incoming Financial Fair Play rules, designed to force clubs to “live within their means”. Instead, the rules threaten to embed the big clubs at the top while preventing new investors from backing challengers with new money. In an ideal world, clubs would not be play-things of oil tycoons. But a better way to solve this is through fans owning shares in their clubs, a method that is working brilliantly for Swansea. More red tape, however, will just create a mess of loopholes, unintended consequences, and questionable punishments.
Julian Harris is an economics and sports reporter at Morning Wire