Why Man Utd were fined for Financial Fair Play breaches as club at odds with UEFA verdict

United released a statement revealing its “disappointment” with the decision but accepted it was guilty of a technical breach of the rules, namely reporting a minor break-even deficit

Manchester United have been fined £256,000 by UEFA for a minor breach of its Financial Fair Play rules.

United released a statement revealing its “disappointment” with the decision but accepted it was guilty of a technical breach of the rules, namely reporting a minor break-even deficit.

The fine relates to £40.2million of COVID-19 losses in the 2022 monitoring period, on top of £200.2m of pandemic-related losses during 2019-20 and 2020-21, which was more than any other Premier League club.

United were unable to adjust for that loss in the club's break-even calculation for 2022, because of a change in the way UEFA treated COVID-19 losses during the transition to its revised financial sustainability regulatory framework.

In contrast, the Premier League did allow for COVID-19 adjustments for 2022, meaning United were fully compliant with domestic FFP rules.

United are adamant that, without the unforeseen changes from UEFA, they would have met the break-even threshold and avoided punishment.

The fine, related to historic issues and previous FFP rules, does not have an impact on United's spending ability this summer.

But the new FFP rules remain a constraint on the spending power of United and other clubs, meaning investment must be made cautiously and wisely.

United released a statement which said: “While disappointed by the outcome, Manchester United accepts this fine for what UEFA acknowledges to be a minor technical breach of its previous Financial Fair Play rules.

“This reflected a change in the way that UEFA adjusted for COVID-19 losses during the 2022 reporting period, which allowed us to recognise only €15m of the €281m of revenues lost due to the pandemic within the FFP calculation.

“Post pandemic, the club's revenues have recovered strongly and are forecast to reach a record level in the current financial year.

“The club continues to support the enforcement of rules to promote financial fair play and sustainability across domestic and European football.”