It is interesting to speculate on what motivated UEFA to add this extra punishment ('the withdrawal of a title or award'). It seems likely that UEFA have been influenced by a combination of three events:

1 Chelsea's victory in the Champions League final - the club's spending policy is not generally popular.

2 Atletico's victory in the Europa League - Atletico has their prize money temporarily frozen owing to overdue 'payables (i.e tax or wages)

3 PSG's extravagant spending and progression to the last 16 of the Champions League

Although we don't know in what circumstances the punishment is intended to be applied, it seems likely that a club failing the Break-Even test or having 'overdue payables' faces the prospect of being stripped of a title.

It is not entirely clear but it seems likely that any punishment is likely to depend on whether the transgression happened during the season in which the title was won.

Chelsea seem to have improved their Break Even performance and there is good chance they will now pass the test (although Premier League Chief Executive Richard Schudamore acknowledged that it was likely to be a close-run-thing). Provided they can pass the Break Even test then Chelsea will have nothing to fear. However now that the new punishment is available, even a marginal fail could result in pressure on UEFA to retrospectively strip Chelsea of their title. However I would be surprised if UEFA had an appetite for taking such action in respect of a title won 18 months to two years prior to the Break Even decision. Chelsea's current tilt at the Europa League provides an interesting aspect to consider to new punishment - it is quite conceivable that the club would be stripped of their title if they subsequently fail the Break Even test.

Atletico have resolved their immediate issues and now have a repayment agreement in place with the Spanish government to pay overdue tax.

It is probably specifically with PSG in mind that the new sanction has been introduced.

Unless the Club Football Control Body (CFCB) is astonishingly lenient, it seems likely that PSG will fail the Break Even test. As I explained in my article of 21 December, there are very good reasons why the artificially inflated Qatar Tourist Authority deal (reported to be E150m a year) will be adjusted to a 'fair value' market rate.

As the above slide pack shows, UEFA will announce the first Break Even punishments between December 2013 and April 2014. If Paris St-Germain hold the Champions League title at that time (i.e. by winning it in May 2013), it is entirely possible that they would be stripped of the title. This new punishment seems to have been introduced with this specific scenario in mind; to give UEFA the ability to take the title from a club that had won the trophy through overspending and flagrant breaching of the Break Even rules. It is also interesting to consider why the new punishment has not publicly been announced - it may be because UEFA don't wish to appear as if they are overtly introducing new rules specifically to tackle the issues of one errant club.

The above pack also potentially provides us with an interesting insight into the Break Even punishments that UEFA might apply to any clubs that fail the very first Break Even test. Back in April 2012 Alasdair Bell UEFA legal director disclosed in an interviewthat clubs that fail the very first Break Even test were likely to face fairly lenient punishments. He explained that initially, he expected clubs to be restricted in the number of players they could register in UEFA competitions.

Although the above slide does not carry any explanatory text - it is interesting to note that three of the sanctions are shown in a different, lighter colour text - all these three punishments fit very nicely with the approach outlined by Alasdair Bell.