Do You Want Villa Sold + Financial Fair Play

Following: Feelers Out For Aston Villa Sale?

I thought I`d ask in a new poll, Do you want Aston Villa sold?

For me, the new financial fair play rules confuse the picture for those that want a rich owner (and we haven`t got a poor owner btw!)

Wiki explains:

The UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations, first agreed in principle in September 2009 by the Financial Control Panel of football`s governing body in Europe (Union of European Football Associations - UEFA), were brought in to prevent professional football clubs spending more than they earn in the pursuit of success and in so doing getting into financial problems which might threaten their long term survival.

Introduced amid concern at the heavy spending of a number of professional clubs across Europe, it was hoped that the regulations would eventually lead to a more 'level playing field` by preventing clubs with very wealthy owners who make substantial cash gifts to their club from gaining an unfair advantage over other clubs who are run on a more sustainable business model, and in so doing encourage lower levels of spending. The FFP Regulations provide for sanctions to be taken against clubs who do not spend within a set budgetary framework over several seasons.

The 2011-12 football season is the first during which the regulations apply;[2] The ultimate penalty is disqualification from European competitions. Other possible penalties originally included fines, the withholding of prize money, and transfer bans. As of early 2012, however, UEFA has had to shelve plans to ban player transfers following legal advice, and it remains to be seen if other threatened sanctions will be taken in practice.

On announcing the new legislation, UEFA President Michel Platini said,

"Fifty per cent of clubs are losing money and this is an increasing trend. We needed to stop this downward spiral. They have spent more than they have earned in the past and haven't paid their debts. We don't want to kill or hurt the clubs; on the contrary, we want to help them in the market. The teams who play in our tournaments have unanimously agreed to our principles…living within your means is the basis of accounting but it hasn't been the basis of football for years now. The owners are asking for rules because they can't implement them themselves - many of them have had it with shovelling money into clubs and the more money you put into clubs, the harder it is to sell at a profit."

Platini went on to say that the measures were backed by the majority of football club owners, and that an independent panel would be set up to judge whether clubs had broken the rules.

Full wiki on new rules: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Financial_Fair_Play_Regulations

Going to be interesting to see if UEFA push through the fair play rules or if clubs do get around it. I hope they don`t, although I do fear, unless they tackle the clubs in massive debt to fund their success, the status quo will continue and the top four or five will remain a closed shop no matter how decently a club is run.

There is also further reading should you be interested: http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/

The problems clubs like Chelsea and Man City face in the new rules: www.dailymail.co.uk

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.