Kieran Maguire issues ‘huge’ Arsenal FFP verdict after £34m plunge
Arsenal are likely to avoid UEFA Financial Fair Play sanctions after slashing their wage budget in 2021-22.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Gunners’ most recent set of annual accounts.
The books, which were released on Friday (2 December), presented a £45.5million loss for the 12 months ending 31 May 2022, taking the deficit over the last four years beyond £250m.
Until the beginning of the current campaign, clubs competing in UEFA competitions were allowed to lose no more than £38.5million over a rolling three-year period.
Under these terms, Arsenal were included on European football’s governing body’s Financial Fair Play monitoring list.
UEFA have now begun the process of phasing in a new system which instead limits clubs to spending no more than 70 per cent of income on wages, transfers and agents over the same assessment period.
Maguire claims that Arsenal will avoid punishment because their wage bill plunged by £34m in 2021-22 and because of UEFA’s new financial control mechanism.
“Arsenal have been in UEFA’s watchlist in terms of Financial Fair Play, but I think they are in a relatively safe position,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams,
“There will be Covid allowances that they have been able to claim.
“Also, UEFA is now moving towards a new form of Financial Fair Play called the ‘Financial and Sustainability’ rules.
“In that system, clubs are assessed on wages as a percentage of revenue.
“Because Arsenal’s wages went down hugely in 2021-22, the club is now well within the limits in respect of the rules as they are tapered in over the course of the next few years.“
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