Financial fair play, TAS … PSG's European future is also playing behind the scenes



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The Paris SG plays its survival in the Champions League Wednesday against Liverpool, but also behind the scenes: the Parisian leaders are working on the legal and commercial to preserve the European future of the club, still under the threat of financial fair play.

Appeal to the CAS "unpublished"

Accused by the revelations of "Football Leaks"mid-November to have overestimated some partnerships, to enter into compliance with the requirements of UEFA, Paris launched a counteroffensive on the legal ground.

PSG has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge the "thorough examination"of his case in financial fair play (FPF), according to which clubs should not spend more than they earn.

The UEFA supervisory body responsible for regulating the accounting situation of European clubs (ICFC) opened a procedure against it in September 2017, following the recruitment of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé for an amount exceeding 400 million euros. The file was filed in June 2018 before being reopened in September 2018.

It's the pursuit of this "thorough examination"that the PSG has attacked before the CAS, whereas it estimates to have already met the requirements of the ICFC by releasing approximately 60 million euros of income during the last summer transfer window."You can not permanently change rules", lamented to AFP Jean-Claude Blanc, the delegated executive director of the club.

Can the Parisian strategy succeed? The CAS, the highest sports court, authorized AC Milan last July to reinstate the Europa League, while the club, sportingly qualified for the competition, had been excluded by UEFA for breach of the FPF.

"The case of PSG is a little different because they do not appeal a sanction but a decision to continue the investigation", explains to AFP Me Hervé Le Lay, firm arbitration lawyer Brown Rudnick. "From my experience, we see recourse against sanctions taken by federations. Legally, it's pretty new."

"Six months maximum"

For the moment, Paris has managed to hinder the examination of its situation in the short term. Because nowit is necessary to wait for a decision of the CAS on the call of the PSG before being able to treat the file", UEFA announced to AFP in mid-November.

But for how long ? "In general, the CAS is going fast enough so we can imagine that if the PSG has made a request for accelerated procedure, it will last a few months. If not, it may take up to six months, baduming that PSG's recourse is legally admissible.", explains Me Hervé Le Lay.

If this is not the case, the procedure will be relaunched and the Paris SG, already sanctioned in 2014, would be exposed to heavy penalties, ranging from the fine to the exclusion of European competitions.

From then on, the revelations ofFootball Leaks"Could they push the judges of the ICFC to be more severe than in the first instance?

"In the sanctions that are pronounced, there is also a behavioral issue, recalls the expert. Is it good or bad faith that you broke the rules? Are you making efforts or not? In the future, will you or will not you reform?"

Active search for sponsors

To plead its good faith, the PSG has since one objective in mind: show that it is able to generate its own revenue without the support of Qatari sponsors, such as the Qatar Tourism Board (QTA) ), the real value of which is one of the main blocking points with the ICFC.

"There are big commercial discussions taking place right now for the front of the jersey, so that big economic partners join the club", confirmed to AFP Jean-Claude Blanc, while the contract with Fly Emirates (EUR 20 to 25 million annual) expires next June.

Aiming for an amount of 60 M EUR annually, like the biggest European clubs, is it possible? "We will see in the coming weeks – both on the jersey, as in general on the contracts– figures multiplied by three or four because the PSG is today a global brand", said the Parisian leader.

Coca-Cola, American Express, Lovebet … In the space of a few days, Paris SG has already formalized the signing of several partnerships, supposed to bring him several million euros, despite the case of ethnic registration, negative for his picture. Sufficient to definitively escape the sanctions?

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