Oh ho ho, dear reader, did you think firing Daniele Pradè meant that his specter was exorcised from the Viola Park? No, a haunting that lasts as long as this one did leaves residual effects and UEFA has informed us of the latest: a €6 million fine for spending too much on salary compared to its reported revenue. The rule is that teams in European competitions can only spend 70% of their revenue on salary per calendar year, and after a season from hell, the Viola broke that rule and will now pay the price.
It’s not surprising that Pradè’s spending outstripped commercial revenue. His willingness to hand out big salaries to minor players (e.g. Christian Kouamé, Tariq Lamptey, Jacopo Fazzini) put the club in a dangerous position. The severe underperformance means Fiorentina missed out on several million euros based on the final table compared to last year. Toss in the reduced match day revenue from the closure of large portions of the Stadio Artemio Franchi for construction and it makes for a mangled financial forecast, one that might’ve been a sackable offense even in different circumstances.
UEFA hit Aston Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Nice, Strasbourg, AEK, and Fenerbahçe with similar fines. Juventus, meanwhile, worked out a €20 million payment plan after failing to get under the line for 3 successive seasons. Bologna and Napoli dodged any fine because their finances in the previous year were strong enough to counterbalance their spending in this one.
Fortunately (?) Fiorentina’s own incompetence means it won’t have to follow UEFA rules this season. With the Commiso family rumored to be pulling Mediacom as the shirt sponsor, new DS Fabio Paratici could have even fewer resources to work with as he tries to completely rebuild a fundamentally broken squad in the club’s centenary season. Combined with a number of rumored additions that will cost a decent amount of cash, there’s a desperate need to sell surplus players for profit. If Paratici can accomplish that task, even from a position of relative weakness, it will confirm all his credentials.
The Viola situation stands in stark contrast to what’s happening on the banks of Lake Como, by the way. The Lariani are in the Champions League despite being €105 million in the red since returning to Serie A. Having agreed to spend another €60 million to “re-purchase” Nico Paz from Real Madrid and with a number of other deals pending, it’s unclear how Como is going to conform with FFP regulations.
My guess is that Mirwan Suwarso, Carlalberto Ludi, and company are attempting to thread a very tricky needle. If Como progresses in the Champions League and qualifies for Europe again next year, there’s a chance that the resulting income will be enough to offset all the spending, or at least convince the authorities that the business model is sound. Such galling disregard for the rules and the assumption that no, they don’t apply to us because we don’t want them to, of course has precedent. UEFA has yet to utter a peep about Como flaunting FFP and that tells you all you need to know.
To be clear, Fiorentina deserves its €6 million fine. While the club remains on relatively stable financial footing as far as anyone can tell, the rules are there for a reason and must be followed. In fact, Viola deserve some sort of penalty for their planning over the past few years and ought to pay the Idiot Tax for fumbling the bag this badly after Vincenzo Italiano hauled them back to respectability.
Nevertheless, it’s a stark reminder of how the rules work. While every team is supposed to follow the same regulations, everyone knows the truth: there’s one set of rules if you’re very rich and another if you’re only sort of rich. If you’re not sure which you are, you’re both only sort of rich and also pretty stupid. This sort of systemic stratification is visible at every level of the game and is about as gross as anything the modern game has to offer.
It’s also why slimeballs like Gianni Infantino keep burbling to the top from the depths of whatever fetid marsh breeds them. It’s why Fiorentina keeps bumping against a spiky glass ceiling that deflates it and sends it plummeting back towards the floor every few years. And before anyone complains about how the current state of affairs is broken because it penalizes smaller teams for overspending while rewarding bigger ones, here’s your reminder that no, nothing is broken. Everything is functioning exactly as it’s supposed to.
