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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2014 20 Sport FOOTBALL CYCLING UEFA to share fines among clubs Manchester City's huge fine for breaching UEFA's financial fair play rules is to be shared out around the other clubs in the Champions League CITY were fined £50million for the FFP breaches but will only have to pay around £20million if they comply with the break-even rules in future seasons. The first tranche of payments from City, Paris St Germain and Zenit St Petersburg will total £20million and will be split among the Champions League and Eu- ropa League clubs who did comply with the rules last season. A similar sum will be distributed to clubs who comply with the FFP rules in this season's European competitions. European Clubs' Association chairman Karl-Heinz Rum- menigge said UEFA had agreed the fines should go to the other clubs. He told a news conference in Geneva: "It was an agreement be- tween UEFA and the clubs that it was money belonging to the clubs." The clubs will have a chance to argue any changes to FFP rules at a meeting with UEFA on October 13. UEFA president Michel Platini said in his speech to the ECA: "The framework for financial fair play must be dynamic, it must evolve constantly, which is why I have convened an important round ta- ble on the subject with your rep- resentatives at UEFA headquarters on 13 October. "We will see whether any im- perfections can be ironed out and whether there is room to further improve the system." The distribution of fines would see around 70 clubs who played in the group stages of the Cham- pions League and Europa League last season benefit to the tune of around £200,000 each. Manchester City broke financial rules last season QPR 'could be relegated out of the Football League' QPR risk being refused entry back into the Championship if the club refuse to comply with a huge expected fine for breaching financial fair play rules ITALY'S Edoardo Zardini emerged triumphant from the gruelling climb of The Tumble to claim victory in stage three of the Tour of Britain yes- terday and the overall leader's yellow jersey. Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) had moved ahead of Zardini (Bardiani- CSF) as the pair battled at the front on the summit finish outside Aber- gavenny, but the Irishman was sub- sequently overtaken by his rival, who exhibited perfect timing as he broke clear to win by nine seconds. Roche eventually came in third, 11 seconds back, with Pole Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick- Step) taking second place. Dylan Teuns of Belgium (BMC Rac- ing Team) was fourth, while defending champion Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) was fifth, 14 seconds back. The Briton has now moved from 10 to 24 seconds off the top in the gen- eral classification, which sees Zardini 13 seconds clear of second-placed Kwiatkowski. Roche, who has been linked with a move to Team Sky, is third overall, 17 seconds back, with Teuns 21 back in fourth. As the riders, having began the 179.9-kilometre stage in Newtown, started to approach The Tumble on the outskirts of Abergavenny, a three- man breakaway of Britons Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor) and Tom Stewart (Madison Genesis) and Ital- ian Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff Saxo) struck out. Boaro then went it alone, with the other two being swallowed by the peloton, but he was subsequently swept up himself as the bottom of the climb got near. New Zealander Jack Bauer (Garmin- Sharp) instigated an early attack on the summit, but he could not sustain his momentum and it was Roche and Zardini who then put a gap between them and the rest before the latter fi- nally crossed the line to seal the win in four hours, 35 minutes and two seconds. There are five days of the race to go, with Wednesday's 184.6km stage taking the riders from Worcester to Bristol. THE London club have vowed to fight any fine, which could be around £40m, but if QPR are rel- egated from the Premier League their very future could be under threat. QPR are expected to have made losses of around £60m last season, when they were promoted from the Championship, which would incur a fine of B£40m from the Football League. Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey insisted the Foot- ball League's rules still applied to the club even if they had been promoted, and said it was theo- retically possible they could be refused entry back into the second tier if they did not comply with a December 1 deadline to submit ac- counts or pay any fine. Asked if exclusion was the 'nu- clear option', Harvey, speaking at the Soccerex conference in Man- chester, said: "Theoretically that is the position, but I would hope there would be resolution long before that option even had to be considered. "We are satisfied we still have the ability under our regulations to charge them for a breach of our rules whilst they were in member- ship. "The one thing for certain is that most clubs [in the Premier League] will become a Football League club again. "Now QPR will of course be hop- ing it does not happen for some considerable number of seasons. But the chances are they will need to return to the Football League fold at some point in the future. Certainly, three of the current 20 clubs that are in the Premier League will be in the Football League next season." Clubs who were in the Champi- onship last season have until De- cember 1 to submit their accounts for last season, with the Football League announcing any action a month later. Clubs who breach the rules - and have losses greater than £8m - and are still in the Championship or League One will have a transfer embargo imposed at least for the January window. Katrien Meire, chief executive of Charlton, said it was vital for the FFP rules that QPR were forced to comply. She said: "It's going to be a legal battle, which nobody is looking for. The Premier League together with the Football League should enforce this. "Everything at UEFA level was enforced, so if this will fail in the English competition then why would the other Championship clubs comply?" Asked if QPR should be excluded for refusing to comply, she said: "You can ban them but that might be worse from a legal perspective. I think they should deduct money from the parachute payments." All money from FFP fines will go to charity after the Premier League blocked a move to redis- tribute it among the rest of the Championship. Harvey added: "It was the inten- tion that those clubs that didn't breach the regulations would share the fines but that principle did not find favour with the Pre- mier League, which was disap- pointing because that was what the 24 member clubs wanted, but they agreed that the money would be distributed instead to charity." In May, QPR chairman Tony Fernandes said the club would fight any fine. He said then: ""Will we fight the fine? What do you think? After all we've been through, it's my middle name - 'Fight It' Fern- andes. "My view has been consistent, that it is very unfair for a club that has been relegated as the wage difference between the Premier League and Championship is im- possible. There should be a time period for clubs to rectif y their salaries. "If we were in the Championship in two years with that wage bill it wouldn't be right. I'm in favour of FFP but it is unfair for a club com- ing down." QPR recorded losses of £65.4m during the 2012/13 season and are expected to have lost a similar fig- ure last season. Loftus Road Stadium Zardini wins stage, claims lead Zardini celebrates winning stage three at the top of The Tumble

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