One rule for one: the impact of Champions League prize money and Financial Fair Play at the bottom of the European club game
The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the prize money distributed by UEFA for participation in the Champions League in the early rounds and to demonstrate that the impact of this money is both disproportionate compared to larger clubs and will, under UEFA's guidelines for Financial Fair Play, run contrary to governance for larger clubs. This will show that UEFA's interest in club governance and the impact is solely focused on larger clubs, allowing a seemingly unregulated free for all in financial terms at the lower end of the club game, which is unsustainable and runs contrary to UEFA's own stated ambitions in terms of fair play, competitive balance and financial governance.