Ronaldo agrees €18.8m tax fraud fine in Spain
January 21 – Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an €18.8 million fine today when he appeared in a Madrid court over tax evasion charges.
Finance
US bankers underwrite debt to save second tier Spanish club CF Reus
January 22 – US investors Russell Platt and Clifton Onolfo have taken over financially troubled Spanish second-division club CF Reus that was under threat of closure.
Exclusive: Liverpool look primed to post club football’s first €100m-plus profit
By David Owen
January 21 – Liverpool may be about to become the first football club in history to report an annual net profit of more than €100 million.
David Owen: How transfer spending is turbocharging European club profits
A new UEFA club benchmarking report has landed, studded with new illustrations of the still widening chasm between the wealthiest members of the European – and world – financial club football elite and the rest of the continent’s more than 700 top-flight teams.
UEFA reports finds club revenue at €20.1bn, but the poor aren’t getting richer
January 18 – Europe’s 710 top-division clubs earned a record €20.11 billion in revenues between them in the 2017 financial year although almost half of that amount was accrued by just 30 of them, according to UEFA’s annual Club Licensing Benchmarking report.
AS Monaco’s Rybolovlev commits to long term with €55m infrastructure project
January 17 – AS Monaco’s Russian president Dmitry Rybolovlev has committed to the long term future of the club with a spend of €55 million on key infrastructure projects, the centerpiece of which will be Center for Sporting Excellence at La Turbie FC.
FC Köln buys into SK Gaming esports team alongside Mercedes-Benz
January 18 – Germany’s FC Köln has bought into esports team SK Gaming alongside sponsor Mercedes-Benz. No value was given for the investment.
Man City refuse to engage over ‘web of lies’ regarding FFP breaches
January 16 – Manchester City have so far declined to provide UEFA with any comment over allegations that they breached financial fair play regulations since the club argues the claims were based on “hacked or stolen” emails.
West Ham profits down to £18m after ‘difficult’ year
By David Owen
January 14 – West Ham United, whose star striker Marko Arnautovic is being linked with a big-money move to China, have reported a halving of profits after a “difficult” year.
Profitable Chelsea hike payments to company directors
By David Owen
January 12 – Chelsea’s landmark 2017-18 financial year appears to have seen big increases in remuneration paid to the club’s directors.
Chelsea try to turn off the Bayern tap
January 10 – Chelsea will report Bayern Munich to FIFA if they find evidence of an illegal approach for their rising star Callum Hudson-Odoi according to British media reports.
Everton back in the red after big jump in player costs
By David Owen
January 9 – Surging player costs and one-off items pushed Everton, the club from the blue end of Merseyside, back into the red in 2017-18, in spite of a 34% jump in commercial revenue.
Turkish Super Lig clubs given financial lifeline with plan to restructure $2bn of debt
January 8 – Turkish Super Lig clubs have been handed a financial lifeline via a deal brokered between the country’s banks and the football federation to allow clubs to restructure their debts.
46% of the Top 100 of the world’s most valuable footballers play in England
January 7 – With the European winter transfer window now open, any club looking to buy at the top end of the player market is going to have to spend over €100 million, and to buy at the very top they would need more than €200 million – if the players were for sale.
Man City could still face Champions League ban over alleged FFP breaches
January 7 – UEFA’s chief financial investigator has confirmed that reigning Premier League champions Manchester City could be kicked out Europe if alleged irregularities exposed in the Football Leaks scandal prove to be true.