Chelsea and Aston Villa hit with major UEFA fines for financial breaches. UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, has handed down some of its toughest sanctions on Chelsea and Aston Villa after they breached Financial Sustainability Regulations. A clear message to clubs that have found ways to skirt financial controls. The sanctions, announced July 4, 2025, included multi-million euros sanctions and ‘sporting restrictions’ which could now impact how the two clubs operate in the transfer market.
Record-Setting Penalties for Chelsea
Chelsea has faced the harshest punishment. This came with immediate penalties of €31 million (about £26.7 million). This includes €20 million for breaching UEFA’s ‘football earnings rule’ and €11 million for breaching UEFA’s ‘squad cost rule’. A key point is that Chelsea could end up with an additional €60 million of conditional fines attached to a four-year settlement period. However, that is if Chelsea does not meet its financial targets. The total penalties could then amount to as much as €91 million.
UEFA’s investigation specifically disregarded Chelsea’s accounting practices involving the £200 million sale of their women’s team to parent company BlueCo. Along with the £76.5 million sale of two hotels to a related party. Such moves put Chelsea in compliance with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). However, UEFA does not allow for the inclusion of such related-party asset sales in financial assessments.
Aston Villa’s Sanctions
Aston Villa received an €11 million fine. This involves €5 million for football earnings breaches and €6 million for squad cost violations. Alongside, a further €15 million suspension already sustains over three years. Like Chelsea, Villa sold their women’s team to ownership group V Sports in June 2025. A move UEFA dismissed for compliance purposes.
Aston Villa had squad costs that exceeded the UEFA threshold of 80% of revenue in 2024. But a source close to the club said the club anticipates meeting its 2025 financial targets through adjustments to the squad. This is without having to fire-sale players, such as goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. The club is already cutting wages, including the anticipated exit of Philippe Coutinho.
Sporting Restrictions: UEFA Registration Freeze Looms
Both clubs face immediate sporting consequences:
- Chelsea cannot register new players for UEFA competitions (Champions League) in 2025/26 or 2026/27. This is until they achieve a positive transfer balance (i.e., player sales offset purchases).
- Aston Villa faces the same restriction for 2025/26. But it will only extend beyond that if intermediate financial targets are missed.
This complicates Chelsea’s plans after signing Liam Delap (£30m) and João Pedro (£60m). Moreover, this potentially forces sales like Noni Madueke or Raheem Sterling.
Broader UEFA Crackdown
A total of twelve clubs were penalized in total, including Barcelona (€15 million) and Lyon (€12.5 million), the latter faces expulsion from the 2025/26 Europa League should they be relegated by French authorities to Ligue 2. UEFA confirmed that the squad cost ratio will fall to 70% of revenues in 2025, which highlights UEFA’s intent to actively enforce upon clubs in the future.
Club Responses
Chelsea sought to present a cooperative approach, noting that they had worked “closely and transparently” with UEFA and resting assured they would welcome a “swift conclusion.” Villa’s executives also rest assured of their competitiveness in Europe from the position of their president for football operations Monchi.
The fines set a reminder on UEFA’s new stance, that it’s have not been passive towards financial engineering and they want clubs to start building on sustainable revenue streams instead of funding the unregulated practice of manipulating for accounting purposes. With impotent and conditional penalties still hanging like swords over the clubs, there will be a scrutiny over Chelsea and Villa’s financial players for years to come.
As featured on Chelseanews.com
