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PSG Director General Jean-Claude Blanc Comments on UEFA Fair Play Allegations
November 2, 2018
Paris Saint-Germain said they have always acted in "absolute compliance" with UEFA's Financial Fair Play laws following accusations they avoided sanctions for breaking regulations.
According to Football Leaks (via Der Spiegel), PSG and Manchester City escaped tough punishments for breaching rules in regards to sponsorship, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino allegedly involved in the process of preventing sanctions.
Per Jonathan Johnson of ESPN, PSG denied the reports:
The club's director general Jean-Claude Blanc also had his say on the FFP rules:
Per the Der Spiegel report, Football Leaks claim to have documents that show UEFA allowed both PSG and City to overstate the value of certain sponsorship deals in order to fall in line with FFP rules.
Get French Football News relayed the headline from the sensational release:
As Der Spiegel noted, City declined to comment on what they described as an "organised and clear" effort to blemish the club's reputation.
Der Spiegel also implicated Infantino in another report, suggesting if he "has to decide whether something is good for him and his power, or good for FIFA and its reputation, he'll opt for power and hazard the consequences of the damage it might do to FIFA."
It's also alleged the FIFA president "cut secret deals" when he was in the position of UEFA's general secretary four years ago with both the Ligue 1 and Premier League team.
Der Spiegel also provided correspondence that is alleged to show a conglomerate of European football's biggest clubs have been in talks over a potential continent-wide Super League. The German outlet also said more reports will surface in the weeks to come.
Despite the allegations made, Rory Smith of the New York Times doesn't believe there will be much for PSG, City or Infantino to answer for in the end:
Rory Smith @RorySmithInfantino looks terrible, obviously, but a) basic concepts like shame and dignity don't seem to apply at Fifa and b) that's all dry, and distant, too. It doesn't affect what happens at the weekend, so it doesn't always seem that significant. (This is why Blatter hung on for ages)
As Marca noted, Football Leaks have become renowned for putting confidential information surrounding some of the sport's biggest players, managers and clubs into the public domain; Der Spiegel and other publications like El Mundo have been used to publish these documents.
In the past, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric and James Rodriguez have been the subject of reports from the organisation.