It’s time to rip up Financial Fair Play rules or the Saudi billions will mean the death of the Premier League
IT’S the desert storm which is threatening to blow English football to oblivion.
The Saudi Arabian shake-up many reckon will rob the Premier League of its finest talents.
How ironic, then, if it ultimately proves the thing that inspires a seismic change . . . for the better.
There’s no doubt the Arabian money flooding into Europe has moved the goalposts.
And, like it or not, it’s here to stay and suddenly we’re talking a whole new ball game.
When all that cash was dangled in front of Cristiano Ronaldo, then the likes of Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino, there was more curiosity than concern.
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The fascination turned to fear when Wolves and Portugal’s Ruben Neves — a player in his prime — was tempted by the Saudi riyal.
And then the reality REALLY bit as Jordan Henderson — an England star and captain of Liverpool, one of the world’s great footballing institutions, took the plunge.
That was the moment everyone sat up and suddenly understood the Arabs meant business.
The moment it suddenly became more than a rich kids’ plaything.
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More than a chance for the guys in their twilight years to line their pockets, but a genuine threat to the accepted order.
With the sums being dangled from the Middle East as bait, there was a horrified realisation the Prem — all of Europe in fact — couldn’t do a thing to stop it. They couldn’t compete.
And as things stand, they’re right. They can’t. Unless they come to their senses and accept that if they DO want to fight back, the starting point is obvious.
The time has come to scrap one of the biggest curses in football. The time has come to get rid of Financial Fair Play.
It has always been ludicrous that football is the only business in the world where the successful are stopped from pumping as much as they want back into the sport. A fake set of regulations — in other words FFP — supposedly designed to encourage competition and stop clubs running away with it.
In theory great but Manchester City have just won the Treble so clearly not, but that’s another story.
Regardless of whether or not FFP — agreed by Uefa in 2009 — is working, it is irrelevant now there’s a new show in town throwing around money like never before. Totally unregulated, as well.
There is nothing to stop the Saudis from spending what they want, because there is no risk of incurring ridiculous charges.
They are working to different rules and as long as FFP remains, they are pushing against an open door.
The trickle of players will steadily become a flood and who knows where it will end. So the only way to fight back is by making English football, European football, a more attractive place to stay.
It’s no good quoting a rulebook because all the Saudis have effectively done is say, ‘Well, we’ll buy the rulebook’.
The cowboys are in town and setting their own rules because a ridiculous set of regulations stops anyone from fighting back.
They can pick up the phone, quote whatever numbers they like and not have to worry about how it fits into their budget or affects their accounts for the next few years.
There is a huge irony given the number of English clubs alone who have Middle East or American owners.
But the Prem is in danger of becoming a breeding ground for other leagues, because there is nothing anyone can do to stop it — unless the rules are changed.
And while clubs still wouldn’t be able to compete with the incredible figures being tossed around, as it stands right now they aren’t even allowed to try.
The Premier League is under attack, but being told it cannot bring out its own heavy armour . . . because of FFP.
Bold statements and resolutions are all well and good. The PGA made plenty of them when the Saudi money tempted many of the big golf names into signing up to the LIV circuit.
And what happened? Within a year the PGA had to dramatically up its prize money and then broker a peace deal.
Yes, it meant that LIV golf — in its original form — only lasted a year but not before they had essentially taken over the game by stealth.
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Now football faces an even bigger threat — and there is nothing stealthy about how the Saudis are going about it.
And if it doesn’t bite the bullet and accept the only way to start mounting any sort of defence is by booting FFP into touch, it’s a fight they can never hope to win.
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