Europe’s football governing body Uefa may order Paris Saint-Germain to cut the value of one of its major sponsorship deals, say French media reports.
According to new leaked files from Football Leaks – as seen by French newspaper L’Équipe – Uefa is considering ordering PSG to amend its accounts to re-assess the value of its sponsorship contract with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA).
In 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, the Qatari-owned club declared its contract with QTA to be worth €100m ($113m).
But L’Equipe said Uefa’s financial oversight body is now insisting that sum be reduced to €58m, in line with its market value.
The effect of the change would be to plunge the French champions heavily into deficit, meaning they could fall foul of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
That would leave PSG facing Uefa penalties, including a possible ban from the Champions League and other European competitions.
Under FFP rules, clubs cannot spend more than they earn in any given season and deficits must fall within a 30-million-euro limit over three seasons.
The leaks follow similar revelations of alleged financial foul play at Premier League champions Manchester City.
In 2015, according to leaked files seen by German magazine Der Spiegel, Man City owners Abu Dhabi United Group paid £59.5m of Etihad Airways’ annual £67.5m sponsorship fee in 2015.