UEFA drops the hammer on clubs throughout Europe

This morning UEFA handed out punishments for several clubs around Europe that have been unable to pay their debts. Those eight clubs included Malaga CF, HNK Hajduk Split, NK Osijek, FC Rapid Bucureşti, FC Dinamo Bucureşti, FK Partizan, FK Vojvodina, and FC Arsenal Kyiv. The severity of the punishment varies from case to case, but six of the eight cases involve a suspension from UEFA competitions.

The most notable club on this list is certainly Malaga, who are into the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Malaga will be fined and banned from the next European competition it qualifies for over the course of the next four seasons, and it will be banned from a second competition should they fail to remedy the issue by March 31, 2013.

Many will point to these punishments as a warning sign to Chelsea, as UEFA are certainly proving that they are serious about cleaning up the financial side of the game with today's announcement. They are vastly different situations, but this really should serve as a reminder that running afoul of FFP may not be in the club's best interest.

On the flip side of this coin, this could be an opportunity for the Chelsea board. The vast majority of top flight clubs in Spain are in a situation similar to that of Malaga, with very little TV and sponsorship money coming in to help pay off mountains of debt. One of those clubs just happens to employ Radamel Falcao, so the incentive to sell may have just increased. That's purely speculative, but given the fact that Atletico are already on thin ice with UEFA, it's something to keep in mind.