Both clubs have to adhere to Uefa rules after qualifying for European competition
Aston Villa and Chelsea are set to be fined by Uefa next week for breaching financial regulations.
Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has been probing alleged overspending by the two Premier League clubs ahead of their participation in Europe next season.
Officials from both clubs have been in extended talks with the CFCB around reaching a settlement.
Both clubs passed the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), which limits clubs to losing £105m over three years, in January, but Uefa operates under a different set of rules and parameters.
Clubs that play in Uefa competitions – Chelsea qualified for the Champions League after finishing fourth while Villa, who finished sixth, will play in the Europa League next season – must adhere to cost control ratio rules, meaning wages and transfer fees must be within a certain percentage of revenues, and can lose up to a maximum of £77m over three years.
Why are the two clubs being punished?
Chelsea were permitted to include the £200m sale of the club’s women’s team to a separate company – called Blueco 22 Midco Ltd – under the same ownership group in its accounts for Premier League auditors. But Uefa do not permit the practice, leaving a significant dent in their figures.
Chelsea recorded a pre-tax profit of £128.4m up to June 2024 in their accounts, but it included the sale of the women’s team.
In April Chelsea revealed in a statement that they had opened talks with Uefa to discuss “mitigating factors affecting [their] regulatory submissions”.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 18: Millie Bright of Chelsea poses with the Adobe FA Cup trophy in front of the winners board after their team's victory in The Adobe Women's FA Cup Final match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on May 18, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Uefa did not recognise the sale of Chelsea’s women’s team in their accounts (Photo: Getty)
For the latest accounts under consideration – 2023-24 – the cost control ratio was set at 80 percent. It was reduced to 70 percent for last season and will now remain at that level for the foreseeable future.
The Premier League is set to switch to a similar set of rules, but at a shareholders meetings in February clubs agreed to continue the PSR system for the upcoming season. It is likely the financial rules will align with Uefa’s the following season.
Aston Villa’s 2023-24 accounts revealed the club’s overall wage bill was £252m, against revenue of £257.7m. While only wages for football staff are included in Uefa’s calculations, Villa have been in discussions with the CFCB about a potential breach.
Both clubs have been expected to prove to Uefa that they are not ignoring the financial rules and are working towards compliance.
Aston Villa, Chelsea and Uefa declined to comment.
How much could they be fined?
Manchester United were fined £257,000 for a “minor” breach of Uefa’s financial fair play rules back in 2023.
United had claimed £240m in lost revenues due to the pandemic, but Uefa readjusted the figure to £12.8m. Under Uefa’s previous financial fair play rules, Paris Saint-Germain were once handed a £56m fine.
Analysis: Are the rules enough of a deterrent?
It is already questionable how much of a deterrent fines for financial breaches are for clubs with billionaire owners. They effectively become an additional tax on the super wealthy.
Then add in the fact that the “fine” is simply deducted from the prize money they will earn the following season and it further dilutes the punishment.
Breach the rules and gain an unfair advantage on rivals and, as it stands, the worst you’ll get is slightly less additional money next season. It’s hardly making an example of anyone.
It’s easy to see why clubs will choose that route over the alternative of operating within permitted means. Those extra millions on transfers and wages can be the difference between league places.
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When Uefa introduced the cost control ratio rules in 2022, suggesting they were required to curb the exponentially growing expenditure on players, the governing body warned that breaches would include financial penalties and “sporting sanctions”.
Barcelona, who will also learn their fate for alleged breaches next week, will offer a litmus test for how seriously Uefa takes financial rule breaking.
The Spanish side were fined £420,000 for misreporting profits in their previous set of accounts. They had an appeal against the punishment rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in October.
They are now expected to be found in breach a second time, having been warned by Uefa that they face a severer punishment for multiple breaches.
It would be unprecedented, but if Uefa starts dolling out points deductions and teams start the group stage at a disadvantage, it will send a message to clubs that breaking financial rules will have consequences that hurt.