Football: Player wages soar as European football club losses hit record, says Uefa

LONDON (AP) - Uefa says losses across European football clubs are ballooning as player salaries are soaring, despite the economic crisis engulfing the continent.

A report shows losses by top division clubs trebled over five years to a record ¤1.7 billion (S$2.87 billion), and the cost of paying players leapt 40 per cent to ¤8.6 billion.

But in the 2011 financial year, Uefa found the total debt of the 654 clubs accounts analysed dropped by around 10 per cent to ¤7.7 billion.

However, 62 per cent of clubs breached at least one of the Uefa rules designed to safeguard football's financial future.