Financial fair play must "save football from financial excess" (Gianni Infantino, UEFA)

"UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has not adopted financial fair play to exclude clubs, but to save football from greed and financial excess, by encouraging them to live within their resources sustainably," Gianni Infantino, UEFA general secretary, told News Tank on 30/04/2014.

The European body released the sixth edition of its benchmarking report on European clubs on 17/04/2014. The report "demonstrates the positive impact of financial fair play rules in the European football landscape. Figures from nearly 700 clubs show that there was almost €600m less in losses (in 2011-12) than in the previous two years (2009-10 and 2010-11)," said Gianni Infantino.

"Financial fair play will promote competition on a more effective and efficient basis. It is a framework that encourages clubs to invest in training centers, community projects, stadiums and infrastructure and that will allow clubs to generate income over time, which means they will be better placed to fight on the pitch," said Infantino, who has held his position since October 2009.

Infantino answered questions from…