Is UEFA Financial Fair Play “Fair”? The Case of Real Madrid

This study intends to inform whether UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Financial Fair Play (FFP) is “fair”. More specifically, it examines whether Real Madrid built its past successes in the men's Champions League “unfairly” (as per FFP requirements) as a platform for its current “fair” revenue and wins. The methods employed are documentary search and calculation of the percentage of revenue derived from earlier “unfair” wins to assess whether they contributed to recent wins. Results suggest that Real Madrid's initial wins in the Champions League would have complied with FFP requirements, but not its three wins over the period 1998-2002, meaning that the club currently generates revenue considered as “fair” from past “unfair” wins. However, this additional revenue does not seem to have acted as a platform for recent successes. Therefore, FFP might be “fair”. Extending the analysis to more clubs is needed to investigate this further.