Chelsea, UEFA agree €10m FFP settlement over historical ‘incomplete financial information’
When the sale of Chelsea Football Club from Roman Abramovich to what we now call “BlueCo” went through in May of last year, about £100m of the net £2.3b transaction (most of which are still waiting to be given over to charity, as they were supposed to be, mind) were set aside to cover “unforeseen liabilities”.
Some of those liabilities were already identified at the time of the sale — foreseen, you might say — and were reported to UEFA: namely, that during the previous decade, we had some instances of submitting “incomplete financial information” for Financial Fair Play (FFP) accounting.
Oopsies!
But since we were proactive and presumably because these weren’t massive oversights (intentional or unintentional), it looks like we have been able to settle things with UEFA quite reasonably. As confirmed by European football’s governing body today (alongside them fining and banning Juventus from Europe for a season), we have agreed a €10m settlement, to “fully resolve the reported matters”.
“With respect to Chelsea FC (ENG), the CFCB First Chamber concluded that the club breached the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations as a result of submitting incomplete financial information. “Following the club’s sale in May 2022, the new ownership identified, and proactively reported to UEFA, instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership. The reported matters related to historical transactions which took place between 2012 and 2019. “Following its assessment, including the applicable statute of limitations, the CFCB First Chamber entered into a settlement agreement with the club which has agreed to pay a financial contribution of €10 million to fully resolve the reported matters.” -source: UEFA
Of course, now the Premier League will want their cut, too. If only we just self-sponsored, we wouldn’t have to do deal with these things, right City? (Clearlake shirt sponsorship please!)
Source: We Ain't Got No History
