Chelsea, Aston Villa and Barcelona are among the clubs that have been heavily fined by UEFA, with the Blues to pay up to £78.5million.
Enzo Maresca’s side are currently at the Club World Cup where they will take on Palmeiras in the quarter-finals in the early hours of Saturday morning.
While Chelsea will pocket a hefty payday for their participation at the FIFA tournament they have been hit with a financial blow by European’s Governing Body.
It was announced on Friday that the Premier League giants had been slapped with a huge fine and could face restrictions on registering new players for the Champions League next season.
How much have Chelsea been fined by UEFA?
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As part of their settlement agreement, Chelsea will pay a fine of €31m (£26.7m), with up to €60m (£51.8m) in conditional fees.
Meanwhile Aston Villa have been ordered to pay €11m (£9.5m), in addition to a €15m (£12.9m) conditional fine.
Barcelona, Lyon, Besiktas, Panathinaikos and Hajduk Split have also been punished but none so more than Chelsea.
Why have Chelsea been fined by UEFA?
UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) have found Chelsea guilty of breaching two major regulations.
Firstly, they have breached the ‘football earnings rule’ in relation to when the club’s owners effectively sold two hotels they owned back to themselves to raise £76.5m in revenue.
They also sold their women’s team back to themselves to help balance the books. While this loophole was allowed by the Premier League, UEFA have taken exception to it.
Secondly, they broke the ‘squad cost rule’ which says a club can only spend a maximum of 70 per cent of their revenue on transfers – Chelsea spent between 80-90 per cent in the last financial year.
As part of their settlement agreement, UEFA have set certain financial targets for the Blues over the next four years. If these are not met, the conditional fines will become active.
Additionally, both Chelsea and Villa will only be allowed to register new players in their Champions League and Europa League squads for next season if the player’s cost is not greater than that of the player they replace.
Chelsea’s statement on UEFA fine
‘Chelsea FC has entered into a settlement agreement with UEFA concerning a break even deficit reported by the Club under UEFA’s Financial Sustainability Regulations covering the financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
‘The Club has also agreed to pay a fine as a result of the Club’s squad cost ratio in the 2024 reporting year being between 80% and 90%.
‘The Club has worked closely and transparently with UEFA to provide a full and detailed breakdown of its financial reporting, which indicates that the financial performance of the Club is on a strong upwards trajectory.
‘Chelsea FC greatly values its relationship with UEFA and considered it important to bring this matter to a swift conclusion by entering into a settlement agreement.’
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