FFP update on the 2019/20 monitoring of clubs by the CFCB

During the 2019/20 season, the CFCB Investigatory Chamber continued the monitoring of the remaining clubs under settlement agreements, namely CFR Cluj, Galatasaray SK, FK Kairat Almaty, Maccabi Tel Aviv and FC Porto.

The CFCB investigatory chamber found that Galatasaray SK, FK Kairat Almaty and Maccabi Tel Aviv FC complied with the targets agreed for the 2019/20 season; these clubs will remain in the settlement regime in the 2020/21 season. It was also found that CFR Cluj fulfilled the overall objective of its settlement agreement signed in June 2019 and therefore exited the settlement regime. FC Porto was considered to have only partially fulfilled the targets set for the 2019/20 season and, as a result, the conditional sporting measures foreseen in its settlement agreement, such as the limitation on the number of players in the List A and the restrictions of newly transferred players, will continue to apply in the 2020/21 season.

With regards to the monitoring of the other clubs having taken part in the 2019/20 UEFA club competitions, the CFCB Investigatory Chamber found that LOSC Lille, İstanbul Başakşehir and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC did not comply with the break-even requirement. Upon decision of the CFCB Chief Investigator, all three clubs have individually consented to settlement agreements.

With the conclusion of these new agreements, seven clubs will be under settlement regime for the 2020/21 season, i.e. Galatasaray SK, İstanbul Başakşehir, FK Kairat Almaty, Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, LOSC Lille, FC Porto and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

Below are the details of these three new settlement agreements:

LOSC Lille

• The settlement agreement covers the sporting seasons 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
• LOSC Lille undertakes to report a defined break-even deficit as reflected in its latest forecast for the financial year ending in 2020, maximum break-even deficits of €20 million and €10 million in the financial years ending in 2021 and 2022 respectively and to finally reach full break-even compliance by the monitoring period 2023/24 (i.e. financial years ending in 2021, 2022 and 2023).
• LOSC Lille agrees that, for the financial years ending in 2021 and 2022, its employee benefit expenses are limited, its finance costs are restricted, and its net player trading results from transfer activities are defined.
• LOSC Lille agrees to pay a total financial contribution up to €9 million which will be withheld from any revenues it earns from participating in UEFA competitions. Of this amount, €3 million shall be paid in full while the remaining balance of €6 million is conditional depending on the club's compliance with the break-even targets stated in the settlement agreement.
• LOSC Lille accepts that, for the seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22, it may only include a maximum of 22 and 23 players respectively in its List A for the participation in UEFA competitions, instead of the maximum of 25 players as foreseen in the relevant competition regulations. Such restriction will continue to apply for the seasons 2022/23 and/or 2023/24 unless the club fulfils all financial measures agreed with the CFCB Investigatory Chamber.
• LOSC Lille accepts that, for the seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22, it may only register newly transferred players in its List A for the participation in UEFA club competitions if the club achieves a net positive transfer balance as defined in the settlement agreement. Such restriction will continue to apply for the seasons 2022/23 and/or 2023/24 unless the club fulfils all financial measures agreed with the CFCB Investigatory Chamber.

Istanbul Basaksehir

• The settlement agreement covers the sporting seasons 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.
• Istanbul Basaksehir undertakes to report a defined break-even deficit as reflected in its latest forecast for the financial year ending in 2020, maximum break-even deficits of €10 million and €0 million in the financial years ending in 2021 and 2022 respectively and to finally reach full break-even compliance by the monitoring period 2023/24 (i.e. financial years ending in 2021, 2022 and 2023).
• Istanbul Basaksehir agrees that, for the financial years ending in 2021 and 2022, its employee benefits expenses are limited, its finance costs are restricted, and its net player trading results from transfer activities are defined.
• Istanbul Basaksehir agrees to pay a total financial contribution up to €1.5 million which will be withheld from any revenues it earns from participating in UEFA competitions. Of this amount, €0.3 million shall be paid in full while the remaining balance of €1.2 million is conditional depending on the club's compliance with the break-even targets stated in the settlement agreement.
• Istanbul Basaksehir accepts that, for the seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22, it may only include a maximum of 22 and 23 players respectively in its List A for the participation in UEFA competitions, instead of the maximum of 25 players as foreseen in the relevant competition regulations. Such restriction will continue to apply for the seasons 2022/23 and/or 2023/24 unless the club fulfils all financial measures agreed with the CFCB Investigatory Chamber.
• Istanbul Basaksehir accepts that, for the seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22, it may only register newly transferred players in its List A for the participation in UEFA club competitions if the club achieves a net positive transfer balance as defined in the settlement agreement. Such restriction will continue to apply for the seasons 2022/23 and/or 2023/24 unless the club fulfils all financial measures agreed with the CFCB Investigatory Chamber.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

• The settlement agreement covers the sporting seasons 2020/21 and 2021/22.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers FC undertakes to report a maximum break-even deficit of €30 million in the financial year ending in 2020 and to finally reach, in the 2021/22 season, an aggregate break-even result for the financial years ending in 2019, 2020 and 2021 within the acceptable deviation.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers FC agrees that, for the financial year ending in 2020, its employee benefits expenses are restricted.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers FC agrees to pay a total financial contribution up to €0.6 million, which will be withheld from any revenues it earns from participating in UEFA competitions. Of this amount, €0.2 million shall be paid in full while the remaining balance of €0.4 million is conditional depending on the club's compliance with the break-even target stated in the settlement agreement.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers FC accepts that, for the season 2020/21, it may only include a maximum of 23 players in its List A for the participation in UEFA competitions, instead of the maximum of 25 players as foreseen in the relevant competition regulations. Such restriction will continue to apply for the season 2021/22 unless the club fulfils all financial measures agreed with the CFCB Investigatory Chamber.

The redacted versions of these three settlement agreements will be published on UEFA.com.