European football clubs’ spending on players is still rising just months before UEFA introduces reforms that will limit their ability to spend beyond their means.
A UEFA survey of 629 clubs across Europe’s 53 football nations showed the clubs’ revenues rose by 10 percent last season but spending on transfers and salaries went up 18 percent.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday that more than half the clubs ran up a deficit in the 2008-09 season while one in five made a “huge” loss — spending 20 percent above their total income.
The research will be used to draw up “financial fair play” reforms demanded by UEFA president Michel Platini, who said the spending cannot go on.
