Arsene Wenger has called on the Premier League's richest clubs to abide by financial fair play and not use huge sponsorship deals to sidestep the rules.
Gunners boss hopes sponsorship deals don't get out of hand
Arsene Wenger has called on the Premier League's richest clubs to abide by financial fair play and not use huge sponsorship deals to sidestep the regulations put in place by UEFA.
While Arsenal have long-since looked to work within the confines of a sustainable business model clubs like Manchester City and Paris St Germain have been more lavish in their spending in recent years.
A naming-rights deal struck with Etihad Airways will net City close to £400million over a 10-year agreement, with the club securing almost unprecedented spending power in the process.
Wenger has urged football's authorities to keep an eye on the motives for such deals and is loath to see financial fair play become an ideal impossible to manage if outside companies pay over the odds in sponsorship.
"If the sponsorship deals are just a way of getting round financial fair play then it's not financial play," Wenger is quoted as saying in
The Sun.
"It makes the system worse for me, as that would mean it makes a mockery of financial fair play.
"Originally, for financial fair play, sponsorship deals had to be at the level of the market price and I don't know whether they will work or not.
"But what City do off the pitch, we've spoken about many times.
"On the pitch, they are an advert for football that's always good to see."
