Arsene Wenger unhappy with Uefa's planned step-down over FFP and believes it's a victory for 'clubs who never respected' the regulations
Wenger says Arsenal's way of spending will not change because they 'always spend the money we have'
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said this morning that Uefa's proposed loosening of the Financial Fair Play restrictions is a victory for "the clubs who have never respected" the regulations.
Michel Platini revealed yesterday that the FFP restrictions would be “eased” this summer, making it easier for clubs with billionaire owners to spend heavily in the transfer market.
Wenger has always been an advocate for financial restrictions and he said at his press conference on Tuesday morning that the clubs who spent more than they earned would be the happiest this week. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were both heavily fined last year by Uefa for breaching FFP.
“It will not affect us at all because we always spend the money we have,” Wenger said at his press conference this morning. “It will affect the clubs who have never respected FFP.”
Wenger said that Uefa’s apparent climbdown was in response to clubs outside England who wanted more freedom to spend – so that they could be more attractive to investors.
“It looks like there’s an international pressure to make these rules more flexible because of potential investors in other countries,” he said. “I believe the television contract in England has pushed some other clubs in Europe to want this to be a bit more flexible for them so they can compete better with investors investing in their clubs.”
The Premier League’s next domestic television deal – for the three seasons starting in 2016-17 – will earn them £5.1billion. That advantage is why Wenger believes foreign clubs, who earn far less from broadcasting deals, felt the need to defend themselves. “I believe it’s more down to counteracting the potential investments of the English clubs by the other European clubs,” he said. “The pressure came more from the other European clubs.”
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