UEFA have released an important statement regarding Chelsea’s Champions League status after previously warning the club about potential restrictions.
Back in July, the Club World Cup winners were fined £27 million for breaching UEFA’s rules on football earnings and squad cost ratio.
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The Blues were found to have “reported a squad cost ratio above 80%” for 2024 but avoided harsher sanctions by entering into a settlement agreement with European football’s governing body.
Chelsea later issued a statement stressing their cooperation with UEFA, saying:
“Chelsea FC greatly values its relationship with UEFA and considered it important to bring this matter to a swift conclusion by entering into a settlement agreement.”
According to Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol, one condition of the settlement meant Chelsea could only register new signings for their Champions League squad if transfer fees were balanced by sales of players who featured in last season’s Conference League triumph.
As a result, the club sanctioned the departures of Noni Madueke, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, generating a record £314 million in player sales.
UEFA’s statement on Chelsea’s potential ban
This allowed new arrivals Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato to be registered for the Champions League without any complications, fully satisfying UEFA’s requirements.
In a statement, UEFA said:
“The squad list submitted fulfilled the criteria of the settlement agreement and it was therefore already reviewed and approved before publication on UEFA’s website.”
Had Chelsea not complied with UEFA, their fine could have reached more than £70 million.
But having sold a total of 23 players and made a profit of £18 million despite spending £296 million on new signings, Chelsea can now look forward to the upcoming campaign in a competition they have won twice.
Source: YEN.com.gh
Source: Yen.com.gh
