UEFA president Michel Platini has launched a scathing attack on mega-rich football club owners who are only involved in the sport to make money.
Football has seen a succession of wealthy men take over clubs across Europe, a trend that heavily prompted UEFA’s recently implemented Financial Fair Play programme.
Premier League duo Chelsea and Manchester City have been the subjects of takeovers in recent years with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan taking over each respective club.
It has not just been the English Premier League that has been the subject of wealthy takeovers. La Liga club Malaga and French side Paris Saint-Germain have also seen wealthy owners arrive and plough huge amounts of monety into the clubs in search of instant success on the pitch.
However, Platini, who has always held a firm stance against such owners, again stated his dislike for owners who buy clubs for any other reason than for the love of football.
“We must be careful and protect football,” he explained at the Dubai International Sports Conference on Friday. “Football is a game that gives people a great deal; happiness, opportunities, and yes, money.
“But I despise it when people invest in football clubs just to make money. We must be wary of this as football can make someone lots of money and we must protect it against people who want to use this wonderful game only for this purpose.”
Platini is not alone in his disdain for mega-rich, free-spending clubs.
Prior to their Champions League meeting with Manchester City earlier this season, Borussia Dortmund chief Joachim Watzke hit out at the club for their reckless spending.
Watzke was particular unhappy at clubs taking advantage of lucrative sponsorship deals with companies intrinsicly linked to their respective owners, labelling the practice "back door funding".
That comes in the wake of City's £400million, 10-year shirt and stadium-naming deals with Etihad, state airline of Abu Dhabi, as well as Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg who also have a similar tie-up with oil giants Gazprom.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has himself described the practice of club's spending outwith their means as a form of "financial doping", and Watzke had urged UEFA to take a hardline approach.
"No tycoon should be allowed to pump crazy money into a club with sponsorship from five companies he controls. If that happens, financial fair play will fail," said Watzke.
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