After restless years, FC Chelsea is back in the track of success: the Champions League 2025/26 is within reach, the semi -finals are close to the Conference League – but again there is trouble for money.
On Thursday, Chelsea won the first leg in the quarter -finals of the Conference League at Legia Warsaw 3-0 (0-0). In the Premier League, Chelsea is fourth in the table and, after two years of interruption, could reach the Champions League again, in which the Premier League posts at least five teams next season.
Chelsea needs the income from the Champions League, which are much higher than in the Conference League. Because the balance sheet looks bad financially – and is rightly moved by the club.
Chelsea’s Tyrique George cheers in Warsaw.
Chelsea sold women’s team to themselves – and kept the rules
According to the club, the women’s team of FC Chelsea was sold by the “Chelsea FC Holdings” to the “Blueco 22 Midco” – Blueco is the investor consortium, which took over the club in 2022 after the Russian oligarch Roman Abramowitsch was no longer accepted as a responsible person after the start of the Russian attack war.
Chelsea players celebrate a goal.
Chelsea reported an annual profit of £ 128 million (around 148 million euros) with the sale, and the women’s team was attributed to a value of around £ 200 million (£ 230 million). The profit comes about through player transfers and the “repositioning” of the women’s team. The consequence: Chelsea received the financial rules of the Premier League.
Chelsea’s women’s team is the current league leader in England and is in the semi -finals of the Champions League for the third time in a row – but is it worth so much money? Chelsea had already triggered discussions with such business in the past. The club sold hotels to its parent company and gave some players eight -year contracts to be able to write off the costs for longer.
Chelsea’s stadium Stamford Bridge
UEFA does not recognize sales of hotels and teams
At European level, Chelsea is faced with other rules. While the clubs of the Premier League recognize the shift of their own assets in their financial rules as income, it is different with UEFA.
The UEFA headquarters in Nyon
There, such a business is not expected as a “taking from the football business”. And these are crucial. On the one hand, a club may not have more than 60 million euros deficit over three years, on the other hand, the cost quota for the squad of 70 percent applies from the season in the UEFA financial rules.
Only 70 percent of the income may then be spent on transfer sums, consultant fees and salaries. And if businesses such as the shift of the women’s team are not counted, the scope for expenses is correspondingly smaller – which quickly becomes a problem with an expensive squad.
Conference League is at least a little important
For Chelsea there is a crucial question: Which sanctions will the financial control chamber pronounce if the rules were fractured? Exclusion from the European Cup is always the last remedy that is rarely used. The English newspaper “The Times” reported that there are already negotiations between UEFA and Chelsea about a comparison agreement. In it, a fine is usually determined and the expenses are regulated.
The Conference League thus becomes a small component. In the pre-season, Champions League winner Real Madrid from the UEFA received almost 140 million euros, while the Conference League winner AC Florence received around 17 million, plus income from the up to six home games. On April 17, Chelsea Leagia Warsaw welcomes the second leg with a 3-0 lead. In the semi -finals, either Rapid Vienna or Djurgarden would be the opponents, the final will take place on May 28th in Wroclaw.