MANCHESTER, England (AP) European clubs planning to exploit loopholes in rules designed to prevent overspending in football have been warned by UEFA that they will be stopped.
In a bid to end an era of so-called "financial doping" by teams with wealthy owners, clubs wanting to play in the Champions League or Europa League are required to stop spending more than they earn starting from next season.
Persistent loss-makers can first be barred from the 2014-15 season under UEFA President Michel Platini's flagship "financial fair play" regulations.
Andrea Traverso, UEFA's head of club licensing, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the organization is looking for "clubs putting in place specific structures that allow them to easily go around some of the principles that we didn't think about."
The new regulations limit the ability of owners to subsidize losses incurred by paying high transfer fees and salaries, making them only spend what they earn from football-related income if they want their clubs to play in European competitions.
Owners will be allowed to cover losses up to a maximum 45 million ($63 million) over an initial three-year spell, starting in 2012. In the three years from 2015, only 30 million ($42 million) in losses can be covered.
"We will monitor how the clubs react and, if necessary, if we notice there are measures that need to be taken to address particular problems, then we will address those to the executive committee for consideration and then eventually (make) some modifications," Traverso said on the sidelines of the SoccerEx conference.
"It's very difficult to anticipate all possible scenarios. There might be scenarios that we didn't think of, so if this would be the case we could amend the rules to catch up with these situations that we hadn't been identified before.
"You can call them loopholes, but you can call them as well an evolution of the market which could not be taken into consideration at the time the rules were drafted ... they can turn up as being loopholes in the future."
UEFA will allow progressively smaller losses from 2015 before the break-even rule is mandatory.
But Traverso insisted that UEFA will not pander to top clubs like Manchester City that fail to meet the requirements. The Abu Dhabi-owned club lost 121 million pounds (then $191 million) in the 12 months to May 31, 2010, having spent more on wages alone than it earned.
"They might have a strategy to maximize their revenues in the next couple of years ... to balance their books," Traverso said. "Rather than saying we will amend the rules because too many clubs will fail and therefore we will lower down the rules, this is absolutely not the case, if anything they will be made stricter.
"No rule is perfect and there is a constant evolution of the rules. I would be surprised if four years from now the rules will be the same as they are now, probably some fine-tuning will be necessary."
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre warned that the regulations would be "killed" if they are not applied equally across Europe. National associations issue clubs with a license to play in Europe, but UEFA has the final approval.
"What will kill the initiative or certainly stifle it is people easing themselves into it rather than the rules applying and everyone operating within them," Ayre said. "The rules should be clearly defined, you cannot have a half-rule process."
The spending limits encouraged the Boston Red Sox ownership group headed by John Henry to buy Liverpool in October.
"We see it as a positive step, but the reservations around it are the proof of the pudding being in the application - how it will be applied. Will people be given grace periods, will the sanctions be applied?" Ayre said. "If it is not managed well and delivered well we would all question the outcome of it."
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