• Football

Liverpool cleared of FFP breaches

Liverpool have been cleared of Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches but Hull have been hit with a fine, UEFA confirmed in a statement on Friday.

Liverpool had been one of several clubs absent from European competition last season under investigation by UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB).

The CFCB met on Friday and announced that its investigations into Liverpool had - as expected - ended without any sanctions being brought against the Merseyside club.

But Hull, who played in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, were one of four clubs to have agreed to a settlement fine for FFP breaches.

A UEFA statement said: "The Club Financial Control Body investigatory chamber announced that Liverpool have been found (following the submission of additional financial information) to have satisfied the break-even requirement and are no longer under investigation."

Liverpool made a loss of £49.8 million for the 2012-13 season and £40.5m for the 10-month period before that, but have been able to write off a big chunk of those losses as allowable stadium expenditure.

The 2011-12 accounts reported that £49.6m was associated with stadium costs, with £35m coming from former co-owner Tom Hicks' aborted plan to build a new stadium in Stanley Park - a plan Fenway Sports Group had to scrap after taking over.

Anfield chief executive Ian Ayre welcomed the decision, telling the Press Association the financial period covered by the FFP review had been "difficult" for the club.

"The club was going through a transitional period having just emerged from a difficult financial and operational position under previous ownership," he said.

"Since FSG took over in October 2010, we have stabilised the club and made good overall progress by taking a measured approach to our financial position as we worked towards FFP compliance."

Friday's statement said the CFCB had announced that "four clubs - Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hull City, Panathinaikos and Ruch Chorzow - have individually agreed to settlement agreements following non-compliance with FFP break-even regulations."

Hull manager Steve Bruce said that was because the club had lost money in their successful attempt to win promotion from the Championship and "because we qualified for a UEFA tournament [the Europa League]".

He added: "We've been given two or three years to make sure we're all right, and after that we should be in a healthy position."

The statement added: "These agreements are aimed at ensuring each club achieves break-even compliance with minimal delay."

The four clubs will pay an "unconditional amount" of €200,000 (£145,000) and will be subject to ongoing monitoring.

The CFCB also announced that investigations would be opened into Dinamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow "after these clubs disclosed break-even deficit in respect of their financial reporting periods ending in 2012, 2013 and 2014".

Further investigations into the accounts of Monaco, for possible overspending on player transfers and wages, will be carried out, while Inter Milan and Roma will also be looked at for potential breaches of FFP rules.

Last season, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were the clubs hit hardest by UEFA for breaching FFP regulations, with each being fined £49m and given restrictions on transfer spending and a reduction in Champions League squad size.

UEFA is continuing to monitor the two clubs this season, with auditors due to visit City next week.

Liverpool, owned by John W Henry, made a loss of £49.8 million for the 2012-13 season © Getty Images

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