Financial Fair Play In European Football

This dissertation focuses on the financial crisis affecting European football clubs and especially on the solution that has been brought by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), namely the Financial Fair Play (FFP). This dissertation first dwells on the key characteristics of the European football industry (specificity of football under European Union laws, European model of sport, UEFA's role and governance framework, functioning of football clubs). Then, the financial crisis affecting European football clubs is analyzed (characteristics and reasons) as it is necessary in order to assess the future efficiency of the FFP reglations. After showing that it was necessary for UEFA to introduce new financial rules, the key objectives of the FFP rules are detailed. This dissertation shows that the FFP system has already some positive effects on European football clubs. Besides, it will definitely bring more rationality in football clubs' finance and more stability for European football as a whole, therefore decreasing the financial troubles of European football clubs. However, the new set of rules also encompasses some drawbacks (such as a difficult applicability for UEFA, a decrease of the competitive balance) and there will be some resistance and strategies to bypass it. Finally, studying potential alternatives (transposing mechanisms from American professional leagues) and complementary tools, this master thesis concludes that the FFP concept seems to be well designed given the constraints UEFA had to deal with (design rules in compliance with European laws and adapted to the European model of sport). Consequently, it represents a progress for European football. Yet, UEFA needs to work on complementary means to further enhance its FFP concept and increase the competitive balance of European leagues.