Olympique Marseille has avoided the maximum penalty following a breach of its settlement agreement with UEFA. Instead, OM has been granted a grace period and—like AS Roma—a hefty fine.
Olympique Marseille’s financial situation has been precarious for years. Most recently, following chronically high losses in recent fiscal years, the club even faced the threat of exclusion from the Europa League for the upcoming season. This was because the club failed to comply with the agreement reached in 2022 with UEFA’s Financial Control Chamber for Clubs (FKKK), which required OM to operate in accordance with financial fair play guidelines going forward.
For the 2024–25 fiscal year alone, the southern French club reported a deficit of over 100 million euros. Under the original agreement, OM was only permitted a loss of 60 million euros over a three-season period. On Wednesday evening, however, Olympique Marseille was able to breathe a brief sigh of relief.
Slump in TV Revenue Eases the Penalty
The FKKK announced that the Ligue 1 club will not be excluded from the upcoming Europa League season. Instead, OM was granted a one-year grace period to improve its financial situation. Otherwise, the southern French club faces automatic exclusion from European competitions in the 2027–28 season or one of the next three seasons in which Olympique Marseille qualifies.
The FKKK considered the trend in TV revenue in France to be a decisive factor against immediate exclusion. Originally launched with the hope of generating one billion euros per year, the media rights deal will yield only 500 million euros annually through 2029—even during the previous rights period, the figure was at least 663 million euros per year, according to reports. This significant and unexpected decline in national broadcasting revenues now constitutes a mitigating factor.
However: Even though the maximum penalty was not imposed, OM is being held strictly accountable. In addition to the threat of exclusion, the FKKK’s decision limits the club’s ability to add new players to List A—the main squad—for the upcoming Europa League season.
Fines of 10 and 6 million euros: UEFA penalizes OM and Roma
Olympique Marseille must also dig deep into its pockets. A fine of six million euros was imposed for failing to comply with the agreement. In addition, a further four million euros is due as a result of the violation of the squad cost rule—which stipulates that spending on match operations may not exceed 70 percent of total revenue.
AS Roma is another club that violated its settlement agreement with the FKKK and was also penalized. The Romans slightly exceeded their interim target set for the fiscal year ending in 2025. The violation will cost Roma two million euros, and an additional four million euros will be levied for exceeding the squad cost rule.
