Jerome Champagne, president of FIFA, said the organization must do more to battle inequality in soccer.

“Inequality between the continents and inside certain countries -- the German or Spanish league for example -- is growing,” he said.

“It’s FIFA’s duty to struggle to preserve the universality of the game to avoid it transforming into an NBA, where only about 15 clubs would be at the top and the rest lagging behind.

“The last 16 of the Champions League this season showed huge gaps. It’s the responsibility of FIFA and the other institutions of football to protect the uncertainty of results.”

He added: “The Champions League is becoming a more and more elitist competition. The Europa League is monopolized by teams fished out from the Champions League.

“Financial fair play is a good idea. No entity should spend more than it earns. We’ll have to see how it’s applied over time.

“For the moment, the punishment has focused on small Romanian, Portuguese or Serbian clubs. It is a good idea but financial fair play does not respond to the problem, which is the disparity in the redistribution of money.

“Thirty-two clubs collect 85 percent of the money from the Champions League. It’s pointless at the moment to hope that a Norwegian, Bulgarian or French club -- that is not the property of a foreign state -- can go a long way in European competitions.”