Kieran Maguire blames Glazers amid ‘£60m’ Man United claim
Man United are finding it harder to comply with Financial Fair Play rules because of the Glazers taking dividends out of the club.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Red Devils have had to be ‘cautious’ with spending because of their owners.
United were struck with a £256,785 (€300,000) fine by Uefa after committing a minor breach of financial regulations over a period of four years.
The Manchester club attributed the error to a change in FFP calculation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This reflected a change in the way that Uefa adjusted for Covid-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognise only €15m of the €281m of revenues lost due to the pandemic within the FFP calculation,” the club stated.
Equity investment from owners can help to balance FFP calculations, but the Glazers have continuously taken dividends from the club since their takeover in 2005.
Maguire believes the Glazers’ running of United is restricting their ability to comply with FFP as well as limiting their transfer budget.
“Under both Uefa and Premier League FFP rules, owners can inject money into a club in the form of equity shares and this contributes to balancing the books,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“That has been spectacularly avoided by the Glazers during their ownership of Manchester United.
“In fact, they are one of the only owners to have taken money out of the club in the shape of dividends in the past decade.
“This ultimately does restrict United’s ability to comply with the financial rules and it does mean they have to be more cautious than some fans would like when it comes to spending.
“In the latest iteration of financial regulations, clubs can lose up to £60million over a three-year period – but only if there is significant contributions from the owners – which will never be the case at Man United with the Glazers in charge.“
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