11 European Soccer Teams Face Major Punishment for Non-Payment of Transfer Money

The United European Football Association, or UEFA, is one of the most prominent organizations in soccer. Every soccer fan must know the famous Champions League, Euro Cup, or Europa League they conduct. This is the apex authority that checks the proper functioning of the major European tournaments.

UEFA’s job is also to monitor European clubs that follow the guidelines and punish those who violate them. And it seems, the European body is not shy enough to do it as they already took strong action against several soccer clubs.

UEFA punishes soccer teams

On Friday, startling news came out that UEFA had punished 11 European clubs for violating financial monitoring guidelines. Moreover, the body has imposed strict disciplinary actions after all eleven clubs failed to comply with the rules.

The decision was taken by the first chamber of UEFA’s CFCB, also known as the club’s financial control body. The organ is responsible for the effective management of justice and can take strict actions in the event of a breach of any rule.

The body had concluded requirements on UEFA’s newly established Club Licensing and Financial Sustainability Regulations. The list includes two clubs from Kazakhstan and Croatia and a few from Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Malta, and Latvia.

Sunil Gulati is the chairman of the committee that evaluates the club’s financial matters. He is also the former president of the US Football Federation. Financial troubles have become quite common for soccer clubs these days. The likes of Manchester City, Barcelona, and PSG are also facing severe punishment under the financial fair play rule.

European body imposes heavy fines

Among the list of six clubs, Olimpija Ljubljana and Cluj may serve a one-year ban from the next European competition they qualify for through 2027. They have been given a tentative period of 1-2 years to meet the financial targets next year.

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Besides this, all the clubs will be dealing with huge fines, with Olimpija being fined $106,000 for overdue payables. Moreover, the most significant penalty was imposed on Croatian-sided Osijek and Rijeka, due to the overdue payments from last season. Both clubs were deprived of $478,000 in prize money for participating in the Conference League.

The highest penalty for overdue debts is on Cluj for a whopping $266,000. Meanwhile, the remaining sides had fines ranging from $159,000 to $10,600. The list includes Aris Thessaloniki, Astana, Borac Banja Luka, Floriana, Konyaspor, Kyzyl-Zhar SK Petropavlosk, Osijek, and Valmiera.

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Indeed, it’s a strong decision from the European body, and all the clubs must act fast so that things don’t go south. Moreover, it should alarm other European giants, who are already under the eyes of UEFA.

It’s fair to say that these organizations are just doing their job so that the clubs don’t violate the spirit of soccer. All that’s left now is for clubs to sort out their financial troubles. if not done, they may face unavoidable circumstances.