UEFA Issue Chelsea Statement After Champions League Ban Threat
UEFA have issued a major statement on Chelsea's situation after threatening the Blues with serious Champions League restrictions.
In July, the Club World Cup champions were fined a total of £27 million for breaking UEFA’s rules on football earnings and squad cost ratio.
They "reported a squad cost ratio above 80%" for 2024 but made a settlement agreement with the European football governing body.
In a statement released afterwards, Chelsea said: "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."
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According to Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports, part of the settlement agreed meant Chelsea would only be permitted to register new signings for their Champions League squad if their transfer fees were offset by selling players who appeared in the squad which won the Conference League last season.
Noni Madueke, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson were all offloaded to help Chelsea make a record of £314 million in player sales.
That allowed new recruits Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato to be registered for the Champions League without any issues and to the satisfaction of UEFA.
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.
Chelsea’s Champions League squad
Their 23-man squad was announced on Wednesday and caught the eye after Garnacho, fresh from joining from Manchester United, was named as a forward.
But there was no place for Facundo Buonanotte, who has joined on a season-long loan from Brighton and had expressed his excitement about playing in Europe's premier club competition.
Chelsea will be able to make three changes in January if they progress from the league phase.
Enzo Maresca's men kick off their league phase against Bayern Munich on 17 September, with Jackson able to play against his parent club after his deadline day switch to Bavaria.
They will also face Benfica, Ajax, Qarabag, Barcelona, Atalanta, Pafos and Napoli.
Chelsea's squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen
Defenders: Marc Cucurella, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Jorell Hato, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana
Midfielders: Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Jamie Gittens, Dario Essugo, Andrey Santos, Moises Caicedo
Forwards: Pedro Neto, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Marc Guiu, Estevao, Alejandro Garnacho
Topics: Chelsea, UEFA, Champions League
Josh Lawless