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August 6, 2014

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PSG chances may be hit by sanctions

PARIS Saint-Germain threatens to again run away with the Ligue 1 title but punishments from UEFA in relation to Financial Fair Play could prove a thorn in the side in its pursuit of greater acclaim.

PSG strolled to a second successive championship last season, and with nearest rival  Monaco losing Colombian World Cup star James Rodriguez to Real Madrid, there appears few on-field obstacles to the capital side retaining its title.

However, the financial constraints imposed upon the Qatari-bankrolled club by European football’s governing body are another matter.

PSG, along with Premier League champion Manchester City, were in May slapped with a fine of 60 million euros (US$82 million) for breaching FFP regulations, namely accruing losses in excess of the 45-million-euro limit over the course of the past two seasons.

The French champion, in addition, agreed not to increase the club’s wage bill for the next two campaigns and to “significantly limit spending” in the transfer market while curbing losses to no more than 30 million euros next year.

Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi bemoaned the sanctions, saying they would represent a “tremendous handicap,”  particularly in PSG’s quest for continental success. But he defiantly proclaimed that nothing would derail PSG’s plan targeting a Champions League title by 2016, adding: “To be clear — the players I want, I'll have them.”

True to his word Al-Khelaifi and PSG soon splashed out a reported 50 million euros, a world record fee for a defender, to sign Chelsea’s David Luiz. And it then appeared to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions with the season-long loan signing of defender Serge Aurier from Toulouse. Argentine winger Angel Di Maria is tipped to join from Real Madrid.


 

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