Uefa fears impact of Premier League spending rules

The Premier League has an unprecedented six teams in the last 16 of this season's Champions League Uefa has serious concerns about the impact of the Premier League's new financial rules on the rest of Europe. England's top-flight clubs have voted to move to a system called squad cost ratio (SCR) next season. This allows teams to spend 85% of their income on player costs, although a complicated set of factors means clubs could go as high as 115%. Uefa's SCR spending limit is 70%, which all clubs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League must adhere to. There is no universal SCR or percentage across the top leagues, but others have more stringent rules than the Premier League. It means Premier League clubs not in Europe would have much higher spending power. Uefa, European football's governing body, fears that it could undermine financial stability measures. Clubs on the continent may be forced to take additional risks - facing higher costs and losses - to retain their players. But the Premier League rejects the claim, insisting its new rules will ensure competitive balance. It is against one uniform financial fair play system. Premier League clubs voted for the new financial rules in November, during an unprecedented campaign in Europe. A record nine teams qualified for this season - six of them in the Champions League. All nine have made it through to last 16 in their respective competitions, with the round beginning this week. No other league comes close. Spain has six teams active, Germany is on five, with France and Italy on four. When Premier League clubs not in Europe get the additional spending power, Uefa thinks it could increase their ability to attract players. That could result in the weakening of other European teams, and it has the potential to make English football even stronger. Andrea Traveso, Uefa's director of financial sustainability and research, outlined some of the concerns at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit last month. "The Premier League alone now generates a quarter of all European club revenues," he said. "With more spending power on top, this will create tensions in the market. "The objective at Uefa is financial sustainability. The objective at the Premier League is competitiveness." Traveso highlighted how "40% of the top-value players in the world" are at English clubs. "But many are sitting on the bench or, even worse, in the stands," he said. "This is an extraordinary and worrying concentration of talent." Traverso said an "inconsistent application of financial regulations" could make matters worse. Uefa's financial benchmarking reports, collated by Andrea Traverso, regularly highlight concerns with Premier League spending Last week the German Bundesliga voted to move to a 70% cost threshold. Italy's Serie A has a focus on economic sustainability relative to costs, but it is discussing aligning with Uefa. In France, where the picture is complicated by the collapse of the league's TV deal, the emphasis is on audited financial viability. Clubs must demonstrate solvency and budget control. Since 2022 Spain's La Liga has operated the 1:1 rule, a strict domestic financial control model. Each club gets specific financial limit based upon the money they have generated. La Liga president Javier Tebas, a regular critic of the Premier League's financial power, said last month: "The regulations will cause more inflation and more problems. "Someone has to harmonise all of this. Financial fair play for La Liga, the Bundesliga, Uefa - this isn't rocket science." Mid-table Premier League clubs such as Brentford and Fulham can easily rival Italian clubs AC Milan and Juventus in the transfer market. It may become harder for those traditional powerhouses to attract and keep players as the budgets of such Premier League clubs increase. The Premier League wanted a higher compliance bar to provide a level playing field , external for those clubs not in Europe. It says the 85% rule will "allow clubs that do not regularly participate in European competitions to have sufficient headroom to compete for qualification". A club in the Champions League might get more money but, as they have to comply with Uefa, they can spend only 70%. A team not in Europe could spend 85%, or up to 115% with small financial sanctions. It is all about competitive balance. Uefa thinks a Premier League club spending more than 85% on wages would sustain significant losses year on year. But the Premier League argues that the rule will "allow a club to plan and invest over multiple seasons". Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said clubs have chosen a system which "prioritises jeopardy in competition". "Independence of leagues, our ability to work out what's best for English football should be maintained," he said. "Alignment is good. That's different to harmonisation. That's what we've just achieved by passing squad cost ratio. "We have a very competitive league, and that is the difference [with La Liga]."

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire says he questioned how effective Uefa's rules could be at curbing losses. "It completely ignores your non-football-related costs, non-player-related costs," he told BBC Sport. "What happens if you're borrowing money at huge rates of interest? "What happens if you've had a disastrous overspend in terms of some of your maintenance and infrastructure costs? "I'm not convinced with the central tenant of the argument, but Uefa, to its credit, has not been bothered about having a competitive product. "Uefa has given away so many concessions to the bigger clubs to effectively ring-fence it as far as the Champions League is concerned." Maguire said there is always a "sort of snarkiness" towards the Premier League because of its success. He said a key difference is that Premier League clubs take their own decisions, rather than being decided by a managing body - as is the case with La Liga. It means that Premier League clubs "will always do what's in their own short-term best interest". Maguire said different percentage thresholds could cause problems, especially for the club in the Conference League. "The money you'll make from winning that - you're probably talking no more than £20m," he said. "Factor in the costs and that you're going to need a more expensive squad and qualification for the Conference League is now a bit of a poisoned chalice." The Premier League clubs in this competition could be at a competitive disadvantage, still working to Uefa's 70% but with minimal additional income. Yet that seems to be an exceptional case. With the huge commercial finances of the Premier League, its clubs were already a step ahead. Another boost to spending power is the last thing rivals clubs want. Get news, insight and fan views on your Premier League team All your football quizzes in one place Is there a right time for a Panenka - as Brentford pay the price? The 'big brother' helping Arteta's Arsenal 'over the line' Draper to continue defence against 'mind-blowing' Djokovic Jessie Buckley on The Bride! and Oscar nominated Hamnet The Nations Pod Guide puts Rome in the centre The Mitford sisters refuse to play by the rules The highlights of Piano Room Month 2026 with Vernon Kay The 'big brother' helping Arteta's Arsenal 'over the line' F1 Q&A: Can McLaren compete or will they just be best of the rest? Frozen out? The 'mixed' team event with one female player Four big calls Borthwick could make to revive England Old Firm chaos: What happened? Who said what? What now? Should lower-ranked teams always play at home in the FA Cup? India triumphant again - do the rest have any hope of catching them? Five talking points from round four of Six Nations Is time-wasting in the Premier League getting worse? 'Everything was groundbreaking' - 50 years since historic Cheltenham race Why is figure skating not in the Paralympics? Winter Paralympics daily guide: 12 skiing golds decided on Tuesday 'England's style of play is tedious and doesn't allow players to express themselves' Was new-era F1 really racing or more like a computer game? Russell 'imperious' and Bearman 'raced beautifully' - driver ratings 'I saw a drone hit the US consulate' - Patten's escape from Dubai Who is to blame for Spurs' chaotic descent towards relegation? 'There were tears - but I had to peek behind curtain of head injuries in rugby' Iran, the US, and a World Cup that starts in three months Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.