Barcelona is back in the spotlight — and not in a good way! The Spanish football giants are reportedly facing new sanctions after breaching UEFA’s financial regulations for the second time.
Already fined once for misreporting income, Barça is now in deeper trouble over how they tried to raise money. They sold future TV rights to generate quick cash but UEFA isn’t having it. The European football body considers these deals the sale of “intangible assets”, not proper revenue. And that means they don’t count toward the Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits, now called Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR).
These rules are now stricter than ever. Clubs can only spend 85% of their revenue on wages, transfers, and agent fees — a figure that will drop to 70% by 2025. Barcelona’s clever-but-controversial “financial levers,” like selling off 25 years’ worth of domestic TV rights, may have backfired.
After selling 10% of their rights for €267M and then another 15% for €400M, Barça called it “operating income.” But UEFA disagrees and that disagreement already led to a €500K fine upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The CAS even warned that harsher punishments would follow any repeat offenses.
Now, with their 2023 financials under investigation, Barcelona could face severe penalties like a reduced Champions League squad or even points deductions. This could spell disaster for their European ambitions this season.