World footballing powerhouse Manchester City have been in the news as they have recently been found guilty of breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. The reigning English champions will not be eligible to compete in the Champions League, or any European competition, for the next two seasons.
City will soon begin to feel the fallout from their decisions to cheat. Many pundits are predicting the departing of many key players from their squad following this season. Some have gone so far as to say that they will lose their manager—Pep Guardiola—who is widely regarded as one of the best in football.
Despite this incident making the news, the breaching of FFP regulations has become relative commonplace in the footballing world. Despite the occurring normalization of FFP breaches, it's still a form of cheating and should be taken seriously.
The severe punishment of Manchester City is a good and necessary first step to cracking down on the situation.
The amount of media attention this case is receiving is undoubtably a result of the size and stature of Manchester City Football Club, their players and their manager.
The reason these regulations are in place are, in short, to keep the playing field as level as possible. Teams that play in the top five European leagues are realistically expected to spend more money than their counterparts in smaller-market European Leagues. Furthermore, teams that play in lower divisions don't have the means to spend as much money as those that play in the top tiers. The system is designed in the shape of a pyramid, similar to that of English Football League.
Man City is expected to spend absurd amounts of money. They have to to compete with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG, just to name a few. However, their manager's direct involvement in securing a sponsorship deal is a clear and obvious breach of the rules and is the reason for their punishment.
Let me be very clear: This punishment is completely warranted. And any and all appeals should be declined.
Many of other clubs that have been either accused or found guilty of FFP regulations are clubs that are in search of getting promoted to the top tier league in their confederation. The board, owners, chairman, etc. make decisions that they are going to spend more than is allocated in an attempt to go up immediately.
If this works, it's a great success. The team enjoys the rewards of better sponsorships, a wider-reaching league, and most importantly, amplified television and broadcast revenue.
When it fails, though, the team is forced to release and terminate players and they either become trapped in their current league, or even fall down to lower league through relegation. Then, in a couple of years, they are hit with further punishments from when they breached the FFP relegations in an attempt to reach the promise land.
This most-recently happened to Birmingham City in March 2019, when they were deducted 9 points due to breaches that occurred over a four-year period from 2015-2018. At the time, the deduction pushed Birmingham City down the English Championship table, from 13th to 18th, and left them only five points above the relegation zone.
Birmingham City ultimately survived and stayed in the English second-tier, but the punishment almost cost them their spot in the league. Championship club Derby County are currently in trouble with the EFL and could face a points deduction during this season.
Bolton Wanderers were in the English Premier League as recently as 2012. They were relegated from the Championship last season, and during the off period, the governing body of the English Football League ruled that they would be forced to start their new season in the third division with a 12 point deduction. Essentially, if Bolton were to stave off relegation to the fourth tier, it would be a minor miracle.
Bury FC is a football club that was founded in 1888 and is one of the older clubs in England. Less than a year ago, the EFL announced that Bury would be "expelled" from the Football League (the top four leagues of England), effective immediately.
Both of these clubs were punished because, among other things, an inability to pay their players and staff and the postponing and/or canceling of matches. While the punishments were not direct results of FFP breaches, they did stem from the clubs' misuse of their money and subsequent debt.
Clubs need to avoid dishing out large—and illegal—amounts of money in an effort to achieve immediately success. The consequences are not worth the risk. If questions remain, look in Bury's direction; a club with no home, no players and with fans who are left confused and heartbroken.
There is another way.
Build stability. Purchase young players and develop them. Develop an admirable scouting network. Take chances on players who may not have been able to find homes at other clubs. Buying expensive players with extremely high wages is not the only path to success.
Clubs that find themselves in the Championship or even Leagues One and Two should look to the examples of clubs like Bournemouth and Sheffield United.
AFC Bournemouth rose through the divisions of English in a rapid pace, beginning in League Two in 2009 and reaching the Premier League by 2015, where they still preside. Progressive manager Eddie Howe took over during the 2008-2009 season, and is still at the helm today. He is widely recognized as one of the most promising managers in world football, and Bournemouth has done well to keep hold of him in the wake of larger clubs coming calling. Howe is still the one of the youngest managers in the Premier League.
This past season, Sheffield United gained automatic promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2006-2007. They have developed a core group of players who work hard and play for each other. They seem to take on montra of their manager, Chris Wilder, who is a born and bread Sheffielder. This season in the Premier League, Sheffield United became the first side since 2012 to name a fully English/Scottish/Irish Starting XI in the league. Sheffield United currently sit 7th in the table and possess a real shot of securing European Football at the end of the season.
There are different paths to success. The emphasis needs to shift from that of money to that of development. Money can supply short-term success, whereas building a strong foundation propagates sustained success.
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