Financial Fair Play was touted as a change that would make football fairer and it was supposed to stop clubs from going bust, but the pathetic penalties for breaching them suggest it was really just about protecting the richest clubs.
There’s an interesting situation with the Championship next season as Derby County and Wycombe Wanderers still don’t actually know what division they’ll be playing in next season.
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The Mirror have reported that Derby have been given a fine of £100k and told to re-issue their accounts for the last three years, but that case is still ongoing so there’s a genuine possibility of a points deduction which would relegate the side managed by Wayne Rooney.
The report claims that Rooney is ready to walk away if they do go down, while the Wycombe owner has also waded into the argument with some big allegations against County:
“It is beyond disappointing that a club can systemically cheat and end up with a slap on the wrist. You have years upon years of violating the rules. I don’t want to sound bitter about it. It is not over yet, obviously. But it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“A £100,000 fine is what you would expect to receive if it was merely a technical [breach]. In this case it was way beyond technical. That is what the appellant panel said.”
The league also issued an interchangeable fixture list for next season as it’s still not clear what’s going to happen here, and it’s an absolute mess for both clubs.
Obviously it’s a major decision so they need to make sure they get it right, but some kind of decision must be reached soon.