Government Money Is Ruining Soccer

Just as European soccer authorities were beginning to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about their success at defeating the game's dependence on wealthy owners who spent irresponsibly to bolster their reputations, a single player's transfer brought home the stark reality: Soccer is no closer to financial sustainability. It is as wedded as ever to the easy money.

On Friday, the French club Paris St. Germain acquired Brazilian star Neymar by paying the Spanish superclub Barcelona his seemingly impossible transfer fee of 222 million euros ($263 million). Coupled with Neymar's salary, 600,000 euros a week after tax, that's by far the biggest transfer deal ever and an enormous burden for a club to take on. According to Deloitte's latest "Football Money League" report, PSG is the world's sixth biggest club by revenue, which reached 520.9 million euros last season. Blowing more than half of that on one player doesn't look like a great move business-wise, especially as the Union of European Football Associations has a rule against big financial losses. According to the UEFA's "financial fair play" policy, adopted in 2010, a club can spend 30 million euros more than it earns in a season if that loss is covered by a direct contribution from owners.