With the uncertainty of Financial Fair Play looming over so many, European teams are looking at new ways to maximize their cash flow and avoid FFP sanctions. On Friday, AC Milan confirmed that they have been meeting with Manchester United to schedule a friendly somewhere in the Middle East this winter.
In a way, this not only makes sense but probably needed in order to avoid FFP sanctions. Manchester United and AC Milan are two teams who didn’t get into any European competitions and have played far fewer games than their competition this year. So while the European competitive mice are away, they’re going to play in the Middle East for a big pay day and try to make up some of the money they lost for not making Champions League.
While it won’t come close to making up the entire amount, at least it’s for some extra money to contribute towards the debt. Some will see this match as a way to expand to new markets who want to see some world class soccer, some will see this as a meaningless game where someone could get injured mid season and some will see this as nothing more than a charity match where the proceeds are going to two world renowned teams who have operating budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Whichever way you look at it, this is likely happening and may become the trend if the money is there.
