Barcelona in huge debt

[Stephen Paul]

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed the Spanish club is 1.35bn euros (£1.15bn) in debt, describing the situation as "very worrying".

The club's wage bill currently accounts for 103% of total income.

Laporta blames predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu for the debt, accusing him of leaving a "terrible inheritance".

[gavin]

How has Mr Tebas allowed his clubs to get i such a mess when they are so much better run than the likes of City?

[KunDB]

I’m no expert on European football, or the ‘politics’ of European football, but from what I’ve read in the press and media.

It is temporary and will resolve over the next few years. Also, it is partly driven by Tebas and La Liga rules that apply FFP in advance, not retrospectively. It does show however how FFP focus is on investment and not debt.

Real Madrid are also in trouble financially I believe.

Though the most interesting thing to note about FFP, is how PSG have spent massively without seemingly any significant difficulty or significant challenge from UEFA (UEFA did lose in court somewhat shambolically to a PSG challenge). Strangely, the PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi got elected to an officer position on the European Football Association, whereas City and Khaldoon and co. were not welcome, and more recently, post the super club fiasco which PSG did not sign up to, has become president of that group. This is a group which represents the elite european football clubs that play in europe and speak on their behalf on issues e.g. fair play, UEFA rule changes.

Wikipedia "The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was formed in 2008 after the merge between the G-14 and the European Club Forum,[1] which comprised a small number of elite clubs and was unrecognised by UEFA. The ECA's mission statement is "to create a new, more democratic governance model that truly reflects the key role of the clubs"."

'Some might say' it was a vehicle used by our competitors to repeatedly attack and stifle development of City (and to help develop the proposed but failed ESL) by having a significant influence on UEFA as to the rules of football e.g. FFP rules, and more recently the chair of this committee has a seat on the Executive Committee of UEFA.

Prior to the ECA chairman being on the UEFA Executive Committee (massive influence) officers of this committee held roles on othermore lowly but very significant UEFA committees, e.g. The Disciplinary Committee, The Investigatory Committee. Again, 'Some Might Say' a handy vehicle to attack City. Again. I say strange that City could never be represented on the association officer roles but PSG could.

I think it is safe to say that PSG don't need to worry about FFP, unlike City. I am amazed at how they could afford Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Messi and others, Messi reportedly on £1m per week wages, god knows what Neymar and Mbappe are paid (bearing in mind that Barcelona and Real Madrid are in big trouble for over paying their players).

[Stephen Paul]

A million a week , Jesus fooking Christ 🙄

[gavin]

Barca have to get that wage bill down it is simply unsustainable. That is the sort of situation that shouldn't be happening unless you have someone willing to invest big in the club which isn't allowed by FFP.

PSG operate in a league that isn't occupied by the likes of the rags and Liverpool that have already infested the higher echelons of the FA, UEFA and other organisations. The governing bodies should not be run by officials of the powerful clubs or you end up in a situation like now - where they are utterly bent and corrupted.