Aston Villa handed brutal UEFA fine as four Premier League clubs punished

UEFA have handed Aston Villa the second most expensive fine for a European club, as four other Premier League clubs have also been punished.

The 2026 Europa League champions have been given a fine of £19.4 million for a significant breach of its squad cost rule for 2025; however, a large part of the fine (£12.9 m) is suspended.

This suspension for the Villans is pending on their continued compliance over a three-year period that began with an initial fine in July last year.

Only a year ago, Villa were fined £9.5 million by UEFA for breaching the European governing body's financial rules.

A detailed view of the Aston Villa badge is seen on a shirt inside the Aston Villa dressing room prior to the Barclays Women's Super League (Getty Images)

In addition, Villa will face a restriction on the registration of new players for next season's Champions League campaign, with UEFA expected to confirm details of this shortly.

Three other Premier League clubs have also been handed fines for breaching the squad-cost rule, including Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United.

The Blues have been given a financial penalty of £2.6 million, of which £1.7 million is suspended, while Forest must pay £2.2 million and the Magpies must pay £2.6 million.

Newcastle have also reached a settlement for an overspend in relation to UEFA's football earnings threshold, which has resulted in the club having to pay £8.6 million, of which £6 million has been suspended pending future compliance.

Meanwhile, Strasbourg, Chelsea's BlueCo multi-club ownership model were fined £21.5m, the most expensive fine for a European club, with £10.3m suspended for reporting a squad-cost ratio above 70%.

A detailed view of the Chelsea badge inside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester United (Getty Images)

Under squad cost ratio (SCR) rules, European clubs competing in the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League cannot spend more than 70 percent of their income on players.

UEFA's statement read: "Regarding Aston Villa FC and Chelsea FC, which had already been sanctioned in the previous season, the CFCB First Chamber took into consideration the improving trend in their squad cost ratio between 2024 and 2025 in line with projections submitted as part of their settlement agreement.

"As a result, part of the fine is conditional upon the clubs continuing to significantly decrease their squad cost ratio in 2026."

In a statement, Chelsea said: “Following proactive and transparent engagement with UEFA, the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) recognised the improving trend in the Club’s squad cost ratio for the 2025 calendar year. However, as the 70% threshold for UEFA's Squad Cost Ratio was narrowly exceeded, a fine will be paid.”