A guide to Financial Fair Play and the ability of European football clubs to raise finance (Part 2)

This article was first published in February 2013 and last updated on 14 May 2020.

This two part article gives an update on the current scope of UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations^[1] (the UEFA FFP Regulations). 

Part 1 (available here) examined the key components of the UEFA FFP Regulations and the domestic equivalents in English Premier League (the EPL) and the English Football League (the EFL) together with an overview of current cases. 

Part 2, below, moves on to discusses the implications of the UEFA FFP Regulations on the ability of European football clubs to raise finance (and the means by which the can). Specifically, it looks at:

• Common methods by which football clubs raise finance
  • Secured debt financing
  • Purchase of receivables
  • Financing of transfer fees by means of promissory notes
• Effect of the UEFA FFP Regulations on financing documents
  • Representations and undertakings regarding compliance with the FFP Regulations
  • Financial covenants
  • Material adverse possession (MAC) clauses
• Effects for clubs