[Saba Sports News] According to French media reports, Olympique de Marseille has been placed under strict financial monitoring by UEFA over its past conduct, yet the club appears unable to honour all its commitments. If the reports are true, Marseille could face fresh sanctions. The club’s poor performance this season may end on an even worse note. It is reported that Marseille has run into difficulties complying with the settlement agreement it signed with UEFA in 2022. At that time, UEFA handed down a lenient punishment to Marseille for breaches of Financial Fair Play regulations, including a fine of two million euros. However, under the deal reached with the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, Marseille pledged to restore its financial balance in line with Financial Fair Play rules in order to avoid harsher penalties — namely, limiting its cumulative loss to no more than 60 million euros over three years. According to a report by France’s National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), Marseille recorded a cumulative net loss of nearly 157 million euros across the three-year period, with its losing trend remaining a major cause for concern.
The editor believes that Marseille could attempt to explain part of its financial problems by citing the sharp drop in television broadcasting revenue in the French market as a special circumstance. UEFA has taken similar factors into account when dealing with exceptional situations in the past, such as Ukrainian clubs affected by the war and Turkish clubs struggling due to currency devaluation. Even so, such excuses are unlikely to be enough to bring Marseille’s financial situation into compliance with the regulations.