Commissioner Almunia reaffirms financial fair play support

UEFA President Michel Platini met on Thursday with Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President of the European Commission, at the Commission's headquarters in Brussels.

The purpose of Mr Platini's visit was to provide the Commission with an update on UEFA's Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations and their implementation.

UEFA and the European Commission have been committed to working together in order to ensure that financial fair play is a success. Mr Platini had requested the political support of the European Commission for this crucial stage in the process – the implementation of the regulations – and offered to personally keep the Commission informed of developments in this respect.

Mr Platini explained the main points of UEFA's financial fair play regulations, describing them as legitimate, opportune and proportional measures which were designed to create more stability in football finances and safeguard European club football's future well-being.

At the end of his meeting with the Vice-President of the European Commission, the UEFA President said: "I very much appreciate Mr Almunia's support of UEFA's work in the implementation of financial fair play, and I am particularly pleased to see that discussions on such issues of common interest were already advanced. My visit to Brussels [yesterday] has proved to be another very positive step in the relations and dialogue between UEFA and the European Commission."

The meeting continued the long-standing and constructive dialogue that has developed between the Commission and UEFA in recent years.

Vice-President Almunia said: "All business enterprises, football clubs included, should 'stand on their own two feet' and live within their own means. This is what EU State Aid rules are about and this is what financial fair play is about as well. This is nothing more than sound principles of good corporate governance. For this reason, I'm more than happy to re-affirm my support for UEFA's initiatives such as financial fair play, aiming at safeguarding the health of European football and promoting good governance standards in Europe's most popular sport."