Aston Villa are one of the Premier League clubs who has incurred a fine by UEFA for breaching the governing body’s financial rules.
On Friday, it was announced that the Villans – along with Chelsea – were fined for breaking UEFA’s football earnings and squad cost rules.
Aston Villa’s fine for breaking the governing body’s football earnings rule was €5million (£4.3million) and the one for being in breach of their squad cost rule was €6million (£5.2million).
There is also an added conditional fine as part of a settlement agreement with UEFA that covers a three-year period for Villa.
Failure to comply with this settlement could lead to a further penalty of €15million (£13million) more.
TBR Football’s financial expert Adam Williams explains exactly what’s happened with Villa, what happens next, and whether their European participation is at risk.
A view of the match ball before the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final Second Leg match between Aston Villa FC and Paris Saint-Germain at Villa Park
Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Why Aston Villa’s model ‘has to change’
Williams exclusively told TBR Football: “There’s a lot of jargon to chew through, but what Villa have essentially done here is negotiated a settlement with UEFA and agreed to subscribe to a financial plan for the next three years.
“If they breach the terms of that settlement – either by a set amount of a year-by-year basis or at all after the end of the settlement term – then Villa could be kicked out of the next European competition they qualify for thereafter.
“On top of that, they could be hit with the rest of the suspended fine, which in Villa’s case is about £13million in addition to the unconditional £4.5million or so. That penalty is for breaching the Football Earnings rule.
“It’s a bit more complex than the Premier League equivalent, but you’re allowed to lose up to £75million over a rolling three-year period if you’re deemed to be in good financial health.
“Significantly, you can’t get around UEFA’s system with the sale of the women’s team or other PSR sleights of hand such as the quasi-swap deals we’ve seen at Villa involving the likes of Omari Kellyman and Tim Ireogbunam.
“As well as that element, Villa have also broken UEFA’s Squad Cost Control rule for 2024.
“With this rule, which the Premier League are considering introducing their own slightly watered-down version, Villa weren’t allowed to spend more than 80 per cent of their turnover plus the profit they made on player sales on wages, transfers and agents’ fees involving their first-team setup. The fine here was just over £5million.
“There are no sanctions in terms of being kicked out of European competition for now, but that could change if Villa breach the terms of the settlement.
“There are also some provisions about registering new players which, to be frank, I don’t think anyone quite understands yet. There will be more to follow on that.
“So basically, the model has to change over the next few seasons. It will be a brand new plan compared to what Edens and Sawiris will have outlined before they were made aware of how UEFA were planning to handle this.”
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What Aston Villa insiders allegedly make of sanctions
The Athletic reported in July that senior figures at Villa believe UEFA’s squad cost rules are the most serious challenge that faces the club, with compliance a difficult task.
Unlike the Premier League, UEFA does not allow for the sale of tangible assets – the women’s club, for instance – to sister or parent companies to count towards their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The Athletic cited Villa sources – speaking on the condition of anonymity – as saying they ‘feel comfortable in their abilities to perform on a domestic and European front despite the sanctions’.