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Martin Samuel on the attempted coup...
Fair play? To the gang of four that means a ban on dreamers like Jack Walker - click HERE for our Chief Sports Writer's column
A breakaway group of elite clubs are attempting to curb the spending power of Manchester City and Chelsea.
A
letter, signed by Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and
Arsenal and published on Arsenal-headed notepaper, was circulated at a
Premier League meeting before Christmas.
Addressed
to Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, it called for
UEFA’s financial fair play controls to be implemented strictly — a step
on from the regulations currently under consideration.
Moneybags: Man City have splashed the cash in their bid for Premier League domination
Rolling in it: Chelsea have spent hundreds of millions under Roman Abramovich
In
a clear attack on high-spending owners such as Roman Abramovich at
Chelsea and Manchester City’s Sheik Mansour, the letter reads: 'Thank
you for your continued work on the vital subject of Financial Regulation
for the Premier League.
'However,
we do not feel that the latest proposals go far enough to curb the
inflationary spending which is putting so much pressure on clubs across
the entire League.
'We
continue to believe that to be successful and have the best chance of
gaining at least the 14 votes necessary, any proposals for Financial
Regulation must include meaningful measures to restrict the owner
funding of operating losses.
FFP plans: The letter with the Arsenal header which says the proposed regulations do not go far enough
'The
owners, controlling shareholders and chief executives of Arsenal
Football Club, Liverpool Football Club, Manchester United Football Club,
and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, continue to believe that the best
way of achieving this will be a strict adoption of the UEFA Financial
Fair Play rules.
'We
already have seven clubs each season who are competing in Europe under
these rules and, by proposing below some amendments to phase in FFP
measures and make concessions to future new owners and promoted clubs,
we believe there is a strong chance of achieving the necessary
consensus.
'In summary, we would together make the following proposal:
- Clubs will agree to break even over a rolling three-year period;
- Break even result to be calculated strictly in accordance with UEFA FFP rules.'
The
letter was followed up by a 10-minute speech from Manchester United
chief executive David Gill, who advocated handing over control of the
new regulations directly to UEFA — a move that would as good as make
UEFA president Michel Platini the head of English club football.
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