UEFA has revealed it will withhold prize money and issue transfer bans to clubs that fail to fall in line with its new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, reports Sport Business. UEFA's Andrea Traverso, a senior figure in the implementation of the FFP, was on hand at the European Club Association (ECA) general assembly this week to discuss the scheme with club representatives.
While the ultimate punishment for flouting of the rules remains exclusion from European competition, Traverso detailed other punishments that may be handed out.
"It's good UEFA are thinking penalties that fit the crime better than the usual sporting sanctions," said Inter Milan chief executive Ernesto Paolillo, according to BBC Sport. "This will give the push that some clubs need. Football clubs understand rules; it's what we're used to, so we wanted to hear more about the penalties."
The FFP rules, designed to ensure clubs live within their means over a three-year rolling period, do not come into full effect until the 2013-14 season, but this campaign marks the first that will be included in the initial assessment.
ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated the group's 201 member clubs fully support the initiative and will work with UEFA during the "soft implementation" stage of the next two years.
"Always buying, buying, buying isn't rational," he added. "We unanimously signed up to FFP in 2009 and we are ready for it now. The ECA will help clubs meet the criteria, it's an obligation."
