By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For the first time ever, financial Fairplay fines were announced by the EuroLeague and one EuroLeague team’s documentation is under external audit. Per EuroLeague :
The Finance Panel of Euroleague Basketball has applied sanctions on two Turkish Airlines EuroLeague clubs for infringement of the competition’s Financial Stability and Fair Play Regulations (FSFPR), while the competition’s Management Control Commission has ordered the compliance audit of a third club under the same regulations.
The FSFPR regulations, approved in 2012 and deployed in 2015, were approved by all Turkish Airlines EuroLeague clubs to strengthen financial balance and ensure fair competition amongst them.
After extensive disciplinary procedures that included a monitoring phase by the Management Control Commission and a proceeding before the Financial Panel, the following two cases resulted in the application of sanctions for infringements that took place between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons
–CSKA Moscow has been sanctioned with a fine of €42,000 for not providing the required documentation and not respecting the deadlines established in the FSFPR, under Article 32.1.c) of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code.
–Olympiacos Piraeus has been sanctioned with a fine of €14,000 for not providing required documentation and not respecting the deadlines established in the FSFPR, and with a fine of €70,000 for allocating to player salaries an amount that exceeds 65% of the total revenues of the club across an entire season, under Article 32.1.c) and g) of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code respectively.
Additionally, the Management Control Commission has decided to initiate an investigation that will begin by conducting a compliance audit by an external auditing firm of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to ensure that the club is fulfilling its FSFPR obligations.