(Football news) Eight clubs have been sanctioned by UEFA for Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches with Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon fined 250,000 euros (£213,694) while rivals Porto have been fined 300,000 euros (£256,462). The other six clubs sanctioned are Spain’s Real Betis, Astana of Kazakhstan, Romania’s CFR Cluj, CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria, Portugal’s Santa Clara and Gibraltar’s Mons Calpe.
The clubs have until 31st January 2022 to pay the overdue amounts and would face a ban from UEFA competitions if they fail to do so. UEFA have said that they were sanctioned due to their “non-compliance with the ‘no overdue payables’ requirement”. A statement released by the governing body said “A conditional exclusion from participating in the next Uefa club competition for which they would otherwise qualify in the next three seasons… unless they can prove by 31 January 2022 that they have paid the outstanding overdue amounts”.
Sporting Lisbon have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stage while Porto need to beat Atletico Madrid in the final group stage match next week to be able to do so. Meanwhile, Greek side AEK Athens have agreed to pay £1.3m after being found guilty of club licensing and FFP requirements and will have 10% of their UEFA prize money withheld for the next competition they qualify for and that amount could further increase if additional discrepancies are found.
Amongst the other six clubs, La Liga side Real Betis have been hit with a €250,000 fine while CSKA Sofia and CD Santa Clara will have to pay €75,000 and Mons Calpe SC have a €15,000 fine. FC Astana and CFR 1907 Cluj will be fined €150,000 and €200,000 but have not been threatened with a ban yet.
