In this file photo taken on February 22, 2020 shows Olympique Marseille's flag with the logo is waved during the French L1 football match between Olympique de Marseille (OM) and Football Club de Nantes (FCN) at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, southern France. Marseille have been fined three million euros (US$3.36 million) for breaching financial fair play rules but had again escaped a ban from European competition, UEFA announced on June 19, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

PARIS - French Ligue 1 club Marseille have been fined three million euros for breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, but will keep their place in the 2020-2021 Champions League, the European football governing body announced on Friday.

They were sanctioned by UEFA last year for their unhealthy balance sheet which showed a 78.5 million euros loss in the 2017-2018 season

The punishment also included a 15% reduction of their prize money earned in European competitions over the next two seasons and the southern French club are limited to register a 23-men squad for the continental competitions until 2022-2023, which usually is 25.

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Marseille finished second in the curtailed Ligue 1 season which was abandoned in late April due to the coronavirus pandemic and secured a place in next season's Champions League, which is their first time in six years.

They were sanctioned by UEFA last year for their unhealthy balance sheet which showed a 78.5 million euros loss in the 2017-2018 season. The club had agreed with UEFA to rectify but reported another 91 million euros in its 2018-2019 account.

The 2018-19 Europa League runners-up will have to watch their budget closely as they enter into the next season, otherwise some even more serious punishments will fall upon them.

However, UEFA has decided on Thursday to take some measures easing the FFP rules to help European football clubs through the current economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The financial year 2020 and 2021 will be combined into one which will be assessed next year, which may be a relief for Marseille and give the club owner Frank McCourt some more time to balance the revenue and expenditure.

Other measures include a change of the monitoring period of the next two seasons, as the 2020/21 monitoring period is curtailed and only covers two financial years (2018 and 2019), whereas the 2021/22 monitoring period is extended and covers four financial years (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021).