Exciting match? Many teams can’t compete with the rich clubs any more. (Photo: lukl / fotolia.com)
Research news - The inequality within European soccer leagues has been further reinforced by the introduction of the 'UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations'. Therefore, these financial regulations of the European soccer association miss a central objective. One reason: The barriers to new investors do not create more competition, but rather a disadvantage for smaller clubs. This is the outcome of the first study on the implications of the regulations, carried out by economists of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) who analyzed 10-year data from the five largest leagues. Many fans have been complaining for years that the influence of investors in soccer has extinguished fair, exciting competition. This was one of the reasons why the UEFA introduced a set of regulations titled 'Financial Fair Play? in 2012, which prevents clubs from spending considerably more than they earn over certain periods of time, exceeding certain debt limits, and accepting any payments from investors that are not in line with customary market practices. But can the 'Financial Fair Play? policy really reduce economic inequality between clubs? In order to find out, economists of TUM initiated the first empirical examination of the effect of 'Financial Fair Play' using comprehensive calculations to evaluate league data from England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain for the seasons from 2004/05 through to 2014/15.
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