Paris Saint-Germain will meet with UEFA officials in Switzerland on Friday to discuss financial fair play (FFP) for the club, a source has told ESPN FC.
PSG representatives will sit down with the Club Financial Control Body to go over a number of topics.
The Financial Times recently reported that PSG could face sanctions after UEFA’s preliminary investigations uncovered a sponsorship contract that was valued at around €200 million was “overstated.”
However, PSG have branded the claims “false information,” adding that they are in “continuous communication” with UEFA and that the meeting will be “fully transparent.”
According to a source, PSG are confident ahead of the meeting and one of the topics to be discussed is the valuations of sponsorship deals based in Qatar, such as the controversial Qatar Tourism Authority contract.
In 2014, the QTA deal of around €200m per year was cut in half until the end of its contract in 2016. The source explained that, despite reports claiming that PSG have bumped the contract back up to closer to the original €200m figure as a result of their improved economic position, the amount has actually stayed the same (€100 million) but Octagon believe it to be overstated by at least 50 percent.
UEFA uses companies Octagon and Nielsen to examine PSG’s Qatar-based contracts. Essentially, a decision made by UEFA four years ago is no longer deemed viable by Octagon and it has caused PSG problems.
The source added that while Octagon has looked over PSG’s figures and found problems, Nielsen has done the same and adjudged that everything is completely within the guidelines laid out.
PSG’s economic position has grown exponentially over the past few years and they recently announced a new sponsorship deal with Desports in Asia, which will significantly boost revenue.
Talks are ongoing over potential new partners with a new sponsorship director (Marc Armstrong) also on board, while the source confirmed that talks are also underway with existing partners, such as current kit manufacturer Nike and shirt sponsor Emirates, over the potential re-valuation of current contracts.
PSG’s main Qatar-based partners are QTA, Ooredoo, Qatar National Bank, beIN Sports, while Aspetar and Aspire have also had deals in the past.
Friday’s meeting will give both sides the chance to discuss these matters in greater detail and PSG should have a clearer idea of what they need to do between now and June’s expected final decision, as well as why UEFA’s stance on the QTA deal has changed, by the end of it.
The outcome of the meeting could impact PSG’s commercial plans for the next few weeks.
Be the first to comment