By recruiting Vitinha for a total of €32m, OM broke their historic transfer record, without obviously fearing the wrath of financial fair play. However, since September 22, like seven other clubs (PSG, Monaco, AC Milan, Besiktas, Juventus, AS Rome and Inter), Marseille has been subject to sanctions from the body UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board (ICFC) for exceeding the authorized deficit of €30m over three financial years. With a relatively light sentence because his case was far from being the most serious: a fine of €2 million, including €1.3 million suspended.
But the Marseille club, under the “settlement agreement” signed with the ICFC must still gradually return to equilibrium or risk being more severely punished. In the event of non-compliance with the commitments made, it risks, for example, being limited to 23 players instead of 25 in the European Cup or not being able to register new elements. And like the seven other clubs concerned, if it slips financially, it can even be the subject of a “exclusion from the next UEFA club competition for which he would qualify. This measure would apply, subject to conditions, to the 2024-25 and/or 2025-26 seasons. as specified by the European authority.
Re Vitinha, the installment payment to Braga does not have a positive impact on the financial fair play consideration of the transfer. Whether he pays cash or not, OM must divide the overall cost of the transfer (€32m) by the number of years of contract (4.5), i.e. around €7 million a year in expenses in its accounts.
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