“When I was in government and we were making tax rules, I always said to my civil servants, ‘Be very creative because they, on the other side, will be even more creative’. Here, you have the same risk.”



Jean-Luc Dehaene knew what he was getting into when he agreed to become chairman of the panel overseeing UEFA’s new financial fair play (FFP) rules. The former Belgium prime minister and Club Brugge fan made that remark in 2011, shortly after European football’s governing body opened an investigation into Manchester City’s £400 million sponsorship deal with Etihad.



“The spirit in which clubs participate with these rules will be very important,” he added. “We will probably sanction those who have tried to find all kinds of ways to not respect them.”



Three years later, City and fellow petrodollar-fuelled disruptors Paris Saint-Germain begrudgingly accepted what are still the biggest...