La Liga Accuses PSG, Manchester City of Financial Foul Play

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have secured some of the world’s top soccer stars — and La Liga is claiming the numbers don’t add up.

The top Spanish soccer league filed a complaint with UEFA against Paris Saint-Germain this week after lodging a similar one against Manchester City in April, alleging both “are in continuous breach of the current Financial Fair Play rules.”

The rules introduce spending limits on teams based on revenue.

• PSG’s 2021-22 payroll was an eye-popping $448 million, per Capology, led by Kylian Mbappé ($94.4 million), Lionel Messi ($66.1 million), and Neymar ($58.6 million). 
• City’s was a more contained $179.9 million, but is likely to rise after the club brought in Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund on a $62.3 million transfer fee.

“La Liga understands that the irregular financing of these clubs is carried out either through direct injections of money or through sponsorship and other contracts that do not correspond to market conditions and do not make economic sense,” La Liga noted.

Middle East Money

Both clubs have attracted scrutiny for their ownership. PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. City is owned by United Arab Emirates prime minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through his Abu Dhabi United Group.

La Liga referred to them as “state clubs” in its announcement.

Both owners have access to vast sums of wealth but have been accused of sportswashing by human rights groups.