London - The All-Party Parliamentary Football Group accused Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool of "financial doping" in a report published on Monday.

After a year long inquiry, the group made 27 recommendations, including backing FIFA's six-plus-five rule, which would impose limits on the number of foreign players a club could field.

It also cautioned against "ludicrous levels of borrowing."

"The financial world has learnt a serious lesson in the last year that living by the old adage 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' can lead to catastrophic results," said the Labour MP Alan Keen, who chaired the inquiry.

"There is a real danger that English football could go the same way.

"Corrective action needs to be taken now to address serious weaknesses in the governance of the game as well as severe financial imbalances.

"Lack of proper governance and financial instability are the two fundamental vulnerabilities to the success that English football has enjoyed in recent times.

"Our report includes tough measures to improve the way the game is run and to combat 'financial doping' whereby short-term success can be bought at the expense of long-term financial stability." (dpa)