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Europe’s top football governing body fined the Chelsea Football Club 31 million euros for violating financial regulations as part of crackdowns on top teams on the continent.
UEFA punished Chelsea for violating the soccer revenue rules regarding permitted losses and for any related restrictions on whether the club can spend on wages and transfers for players.
Chelsea could be hit with an additional 60 million euro fine if they don’t fix that shortcoming in the coming years.
There are also fines on three other top tier clubs and small teams across the continent.
The punishment is a blow to the group led by the West London Club and its US owners, private equity firm Clearlake Capital, and financial practitioner Todd Boehly. They bought Chelsea for £2.5 billion in 2022 from Rome Abramovich for 2.2 billion pounds in 2022 after the British government approved the Russian bigwig and was forced to sell the club following a full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine.
Under Clearlake and Boehly, Chelsea invested heavily in their performance team with a high-profile signature. After selling players and making one-time asset sales, there was a heavy operating loss despite reporting pre-tax profit of £128 million for the fiscal year ended June 2024. However, UEFA does not include the latter when assessing compliance with financial regulations.
Chelsea said it “worked closely and transparently at UEFA to provide a full and detailed breakdown of its financial reporting,” adding that its financial performance is “a strong upward trajectory.”
“We appreciated the relationship with UEFA and thought it was important to bring this issue to a prompt conclusion by signing a settlement agreement,” he said.
Aston Villa, a Birmingham-based club that also competes in the UK Premier League, has been fined 11 million euros for similar violations. The club could face an additional 15 million euro fine if it fails to address the violation.
Aston Villa, owned by Egypt’s wealthiest man, Nassev Sosiris and investor Wes Edens, also spent a lot of money on the team. The club was last season’s UEFA Champions League, the highest level club competition in Europe, and ultimately lost to winner Paris Saint-Germain.
Aston Villa declined to comment.
FC Barcelona, the current champion of Spain’s Laliga, has reached a fine of 15 million euros, which could rise to 60 million euros, the latest in a string of financial challenges for the club.
Barcelona said they are still studying the presentation.
French Side Olympic Lyon, owned by US businessman John Text’s Eagle Football Holdings, is fined 12.5 million euros and could rise to 50 million euros. The club has challenged the French authorities’ decision to demote it from France’s top flights, due to its economic issues.
Lyon acknowledged the settlement and thanked UEFA for their support during the process.
It is not uncommon for the UEFA to impose small fines that increase over time if a club cannot address its financial shortcomings.
All four clubs violated UEFA’s so-called soccer revenue rules. Football revenue includes money made from ticket sales, sponsorships, advertising, broadcasts, prizes and player sales.
However, UEFA said the club was needed to adjust the related football revenue downwards. The governing body said it paid “particular attention” to transactions that included player asset sales, player swaps and transfers between related parties.
In contrast, Premier League rules allow certain asset sales to be counted in the calculations used to assess financial compliance. For example, Chelsea had complied with Premier League financial regulations after selling the hotel to affiliates, which is not permitted by UEFA.
Chelsea and Aston Villa also violated UEFA’s “squad cost rules.” This limits how many clubs spend on wages, relocations and agent fees as a percentage of revenue.
All four clubs said they agreed to settlements with UEFA and that the Governing Body agreed to pay the fine.
