Chelsea, led by Enzo Maresca and scheduled to compete in the Champions League next season, is one of nine teams that have been hit with a hefty fine by UEFA for violating financial sustainability regulations in 2023 and 2024.
The Blues have been fined £27 million by the European Football Governing Body, which regulates all three of the continent’s competitions. They have been fined £17.3 million for breaking their football earning criteria and £9.5 million for breaking squad cost restrictions.
As the squad cost regulations are lowered from 80 percent in 2024 to 70 percent starting in the upcoming season, Chelsea’s financial penalty could have additional repercussions in the future. Four clubs are hit by them, including Maresca’s trophy-winning men.
Chelsea Among The Nine Teams Hit by UEFA Fines
Aston Villa, too, have been sacntioned by the European governing body
The Sun reports that in addition to the west Londoners, Aston Villa, their Premier League opponents, are also among those who have been hit with a financial penalty. Serie A team AS Roma, Olympique Lyonnais, and European powerhouse Barcelona are also included.
Unai Emery’s team has been fined £9.5 million unconditionally, which is £4.3 million for football profits and £5.2 million for squad costs. This is a significantly less harsh penalty than Chelsea’s. The Midlands-based team must pay an additional £15 million in conditional fines for other violations of UEFA’s financial regulations.
Both clubs have used agreement settlements to disclose their respective sanctions, while UEFA has published Sporting Disciplinary Measures against the two Premier League teams from England’s top division.
Both clubs are unable to sign new players to their A List for UEFA club competitions until they have a positive transfer balance. According to their agreements, Villa might be scrutinized for three years and Chelsea for four.
Chelsea published a statement after the decision. According to the statement, Chelsea FC and UEFA have reached a settlement agreement over the club’s disclosure of a break-even deficit for the fiscal years 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 under UEFA’s Financial Sustainability Regulations. Additionally, the club has committed to paying a punishment due to the squad cost ratio, which is between 80% and 90% in the 2024 reporting year.
“The club has provided UEFA with a comprehensive and detailed breakdown of its financial reporting through close and transparent collaboration, demonstrating that the club’s financial performance is on a strong upward trajectory.” Chelsea FC places a high value on its relationship with UEFA and felt that reaching a settlement agreement would help to quickly resolve this issue.
As mentioned, Chelsea and Villa are not the only teams that have been penalized financially; Lyon, FC Porto, Panathinaikos, and Besiktas are also among them. Two parties, Roma and Istanbul Basaksehir, are suspected by UEFA of violating earlier settlement agreements.
Just simply playing football, Barcelona has been punished. The La Liga team must pay £52 million in conditional fines in addition to an unconditional payment of £13 million. The club will be scrutinized for two years, as stated in the story published by The Sun.
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