Chelsea fined £27m for breaking spending rules

Enzo Maresca will need Chelsea to sell players ahead of their return to the Champions League - Getty Images /George Wood

Chelsea have been hit with a €31 million (£26.75 million) fine by Uefa over financial fair play, with a potential further €60 million (£52 million) looming over the next four years should they breach the rules again.

The European governing body announced the sanctions on Friday, ruling that Chelsea would be fined an enormous €80 million (£69 million) over four years, with €60 million of that suspended pending future compliance. Aston Villa have also been fined a total of €11 million (£9.5 million) with a further €15 million (£13 million) suspended over the next three years.

Chelsea, who have returned to the Champions League, will also be forbidden from registering new players for a Uefa competition over the next two seasons, unless they can show that they have generated a cost-saving through the sale of players against acquisitions. That sanction could be extended for a further two seasons, depending on Chelsea’s financial results.

The same will be the case for Villa next season, when they compete in the Uefa Europa League next season, with the club under obligation to cut costs or risk the sanction continuing.

While Unai Emery has transformed Villa since his appointment in October 2022, returning the club to the riches of the Champions League last season, the fines have been expected for some time. However, Villa intend to continue progressing under Emery and remain competitive. The club wish to avoid an exodus of players and plan one ‘big’ sale, with the future of Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez still uncertain. Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendía, Leander Dendoncker and Louie Barry will be more obvious sales this summer.

The Uefa “club financial control body” ruled that Chelsea had broken rules around what constitutes declarable income in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, generating a deficit.

That includes what has become known as “player swaps” – the reciprocal sale of players with another club in order to generate book profit. As well as that, Uefa forbids the sale of assets within an ownership group, again to generate book profit. Chelsea have done that with the sale of the two hotels and a car park at Stamford Bridge, and the majority stake in the women’s team.

Chelsea’s owners generated £75.6 million of income by selling both the hotels on the Stamford Bridge site last year - PA/John Walton

The latter was undertaken in this financial year, but Uefa has also taken into consideration the projections for 2025 results in calculating its penalty. Chelsea have been fined a total of €20 million immediately, with the potential for up to €60 million more over the next four years. The club, who escaped any Premier League sanction because of the difference in financial controls, may well see that as the cost of doing business.

In a statement, Chelsea said: “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 greatly values its relationship with Uefa and considered it important to bring this matter to a swift conclusion by entering into a settlement agreement.”

The club will now have to embark on a programme of sales to be able to register with Uefa new signings Liam Delap, João Pedro and the incoming Jamie Gittens in time for the new season.

Chelsea will most likely need to sell players before they can register new signing João Pedro for European competition - Getty Images /Darren Walsh

Villa, who returned to the Champions League last season after more than 40 years away from European football’s top competition, were fined €5 million immediately with the possibility of another €15 million over the next three years.

Telegraph Sport reported this week that Villa owners V Sports will sell a stake in their women’s team to an external investor and the rest within the group, generating a profit of around £55 million. The club are also looking at the sale of the new live indoor venue at Villa Park, The Warehouse, which is as yet unfinished.

In addition, Chelsea and Aston Villa have both fallen on the wrong side of Uefa’s new financial control system, the squad cost rules, which dictate no more than 80 per cent of revenue can be spent on wages and additional costs such as agents’ fees. In Chelsea’s case that has resulted in an €11 million fine, and for Villa €6 million.

Premier League financial controls do not forbid clubs from selling assets within the ownership group, and nor have the 20 clubs taken steps to rule out player swaps. As a consequence, both clubs will pass the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). At the Premier League AGM last month, there was so little support for a change to PSR that clubs did not even progress to vote on the issue.

Uefa also hit Barcelona hard, fining them €60 million with €45 million of that suspended over two years for declaring non-admissible income. The troubled French club Lyon, at which US investor John Textor has recently stepped down from the board, were fined €12.5 million with a further €37.5 million suspended over four years. Lyon still face the prospect of relegation to Ligue 2 by French regulators.

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