Fixing Financial Fair Play: How to Make European Soccer’s Salary Cap Stick

When Spanish superclub Real Madrid spent a reported €100 million on Welsh winger Gareth Bale in summer 2013, soccer ( football ) pundits all had the same question: Is Financial Fair Play a joke? European football\u27s governing body has implemented a set of rules commonly known as Financial Fair Play, designed to stem runaway spending that has become endemic to the modern game. Chief among the regulations is the break-even provision, which limits teams to spending on football only what they bring in from football - a type of salary cap based directly on revenues. But even before the rules went into effect last year, many clubs began looking for ways to circumvent the break-even provision in order to stay competitive. Legal challenge to the rules, which could very well be successful, may mean enforcement will be hedged. And different tax rules and club ownership structures in different countries will mean inconsistencies that could further undermine the rules. Ultimately, if European football wants to clean up its books – competition be damned – successful passage of Financial Fair Play-like regulations in each individual member country would be the best course of action