UEFA has imposed fines on Chelsea and Barcelona, as well as 10 other clubs, for breaking the financial sustainability and the accountability framework, after a thorough examination of the club budgets for the years 2023 and 2024.
Chelsea were fined the most with a total of €80 million ($94.2m), €20 million ($23.6m) of which are to be paid unconditionally. Barcelona, on the other hand, got a €60 million ($70.7m) sanction, €15 million ($17.7m) of which are payable immediately. Both teams have concluded with UEFA agreements that involve fines subject to the clubs’ future behavior being a financial one.
The other teams that have been penalized include Aston Villa, Olympique Lyonnais, Hajduk Split, and Porto. All clubs except Porto have reached out-of-court settlements, but they have to follow the fines and potential squad registration issues for UEFA competitions.
Chelsea and Aston Villa were further found to have failed to comply with UEFA’s squad cost rule that limits the amount clubs can spend on transfers and wages to 80% of revenue. Chelsea got a €11 million ($13m) reward, while Villa were given a €6 million ($7.1m) fines.
The UEFA declared that these fines are now going to be in place of harsher actions like disqualifications from European tournaments. So, as of now, Chelsea, Barcelona, and Aston Villa won’t have any problems with the Champions League and Europa League next season, on the grounds of not honoring their financial rankings.
