Mourinho calls for points deductions for FFP breaches

LONDON — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes clubs found guilty of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules should be deducted points and have titles stripped rather than face fines. Premier League champions Manchester City, who face Chelsea in a heavyweight clash between the two title favourites on Sunday, were fined 60 million euros in May for breaking the rules, but the Portuguese believes stricter sanctions should be imposed. “Are the fines fair? I don’t think so. What is fair is to remove points and titles,” the 51-year-old was quoted as saying by British media. The FFP rules, which were set up by the Club Financial Control Body in 2012, are designed to limit financial losses and make football clubs more financially stable. FFP rules also dictated that their squad for this season’s Champions League was capped at 21 players rather than the usual 25, but Mourinho suggested the punishment was not enough to dissuade repeat offenders. “If you have to take one or two players off your list for the Champions League and instead of going with 24 go with 22, no problem,” he added. “But say you start the next championship with six points deducted, and play in the Europa League, that is more serious.”