New Delhi: UEFA has handed out hefty fines to Chelsea, Barcelona, Aston Villa and Lyon after finding the clubs in breach of financial sustainability rules. The fines were announced on Friday as part of UEFA’s ongoing push to tighten financial discipline among clubs competing in its competitions.
Chelsea will face the highest fine among the clubs, with UEFA ordering them to pay 31 million euros for breaking two key financial rules. The club was hit with a 20 million euro fine for failing to comply with the football earnings rule and an additional 11 million euros for breaching the squad cost rule.
Despite Chelsea’s efforts to balance their books by selling their women’s team to their parent company Blueco for 235 million euros UEFA chose not to consider this transaction as an asset sale for compliance purposes. The London club also sold two hotels to a sister company in an attempt to manage its spending and avoid massive losses under financial sustainability rules.
However, the threat is not over for Chelsea as they could face an additional 60 million euros in fines if they fail to put their finances in order during the agreed four-year settlement period.
Barcelona and Aston Villa also penalised
Barcelona were fined 15 million euros and like Chelsea, face a potential total fine of 60 million euros if they fail to meet financial targets set by UEFA. Aston Villa were fined a total of 11 million euros, split into five million and six million for their respective breaches of the financial rules.
These penalties arrive as clubs across Europe continue to grapple with the financial impact of heavy spending, player wages and maintaining competitiveness while staying within the boundaries set by UEFA.
Lyon’s case and future European participation
French side Olympique Lyonnais were also fined 12.5 million euros and reached a four-year agreement with UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body to enable them to play in the Europa League next season. However, Lyon’s participation hinges on the outcome of their appeal with France’s financial watchdog, the DNCG after the club was provisionally demoted to Ligue 2 due to financial issues.
Restrictions on new signings
In addition to the fines, all the penalised clubs now face restrictions on registering new players for their List A in UEFA competitions, including the Champions League and Europa League, adding further pressure as they prepare for the upcoming season.
The clubs have accepted settlement agreements with UEFA, committing to being fully compliant with financial sustainability rules by the end of their respective settlement periods, which range from two to four years.