The Athletic quotes Daniel McDonagh on multi-club ownership regulations
It has been reported that Premier League clubs are raising concerns about the proposed move of Allan Saint-Maximin from Newcastle United to Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli for around £30million.
Both clubs are under the majority ownership of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and other teams are concerned the link is being used to inflate the player’s fee and disguise an injection of capital in order to help Newcastle comply with financial fair play (FFP) rules.
Daniel McDonagh, Associate, provides comment for The Athletic on the rules and how they intersect with FFF regulations. See a snippet below:
“The rules are designed to ensure clubs cannot disguise investment by owners or benefactors as commercial and/or football income streams.
"When it comes to financial fair play, direct investment is treated differently from, for example, sponsorship agreements and transfer revenue.
“The question is essentially: would two unconnected clubs have realistically agreed this price and these terms...Some top-flight clubs intend to ask the Premier League to explain how it establishes market value in such situations and — having expressed similar dissatisfaction over commercial agreements — want greater scrutiny and transparency around the process."
Read the full article in The Athletic (paywalled).
