Chelsea are in talks with UEFA over a financial settlement after breaching the European governing body’s spending limits.
UEFA will not include the income Chelsea generated from selling its women’s team to a sister company — Blueco 22 Midco Ltd — for £200million in their assessment calculations.
Unlike the Premier League, UEFA does not allow for the sale of tangible assets to sister companies to count towards their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
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This means the two hotels — the Copthorne and Millennium — Chelsea sold to Blueco 22 Properties Ltd, another sister company, for £76.5m in 2022-23, and the women’s team sale in 2023-24, will not be recorded by UEFA.
For 2023-24, UEFA assessed the last two seasons, allowing clubs a maximum loss of €80m (£67.9m). Deducting the asset sales from Chelsea’s calculation leaves them with a £237m loss over that two-year period, albeit that figure will reduce when allowable costs are deducted.
The most likely outcome from Chelsea’s dialogue with UEFA is that they will be required to pay a financial penalty.
An official announcement is expected in the coming months with The Sunday Times, who first revealed the discussions, reporting it could come as soon as May.
UEFA declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
Chelsea sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to do so publicly, also declined to comment but confirmed the club is in discussions with UEFA.
They also noted that the club’s co-owners, Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, are relaxed about their position and are keen to maintain a positive relationship with the governing body.
In September 2022, UEFA charged eight clubs with failing to comply with FFP rules, including Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, who were sanctioned with a €10m fine after failing to stay within spending limits.
At the same time PSG were hit with a financial sanction, the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) First Chamber, an independent panel within UEFA tasked with policing FFP, announced that Chelsea, along with multiple clubs competing in Europe in 2021-22, were going to be “monitored closely”.
Premier League side Manchester United were fined €300k in July 2023 for a “minor” breach of FFP rules.
Additional reporting: Chris Weatherspoon
(Photo of Moises Caicedo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
