Chelsea on the brink of being investigated for breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations after reports emerged that they intend to sign Enzo Fernández by using its 'loophole'..

2023-01-02 19:00

Chelsea on the brink of being investigated for breaching UEFA




American outlet CBS Sports' renowned resident reporter Ben Jacobs exclusively broke the news through his official Twitter account on Sunday that UEFA may investigate Chelsea upon suspected violations of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations over their never ending spending spree on the transfer market.


According to Jacobs, UEFA has become suspicious of Chelsea's recent transfer activities where they are signing players from everywhere, and also the Blues' new American owner Todd Boehly's suspicion of using the "youth development" loophole to continue to invest heavily in signings, including plans to pay Benfica €120 million release clause to sign Enzo Fernández. Such practice had angered UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin who had announced that the football governing body will gradually reform the Financial Fair Play regulations as announced in early April last year.


In fact, when the rumours that Chelsea is planning to sign Fernández from Benfica were leaked, questions about whether the Blues had violated the Financial Fair Play regulations has already being spread online.


Chelsea, who had spent over £300 million to sign the likes of Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emile Aubameyang, Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling and 9 other players, were recently revealed by Sky Sport's renowned Italian transfer journalist, Fabrizio Romano, that they had also reached an agreement to sign Christopher Nkunku, Benoît Badiashile and Brazilian wonderkid Andrey Santos.


A few days ago, some online media outlet also broke the news that Chelsea tried to "prevent" Cody Gakpo from moving to Liverpool by paying more money to Ajax on the day of his medicals. Not only that, but they are also still planning to compete for the signatures of Jude Bellingham, Frenkie De Jong, Rafael Leão and many other stars. If they continue to spend so arrogantly, they will indeed really be investigated and punished by UEFA sooner or later.


It is worth mentioning that UEFA has suspended its investigation into Chelsea's alleged violation of breaching the Financial Fair Play regulations due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has on the British economic system three years ago.




New Reforms to the Financial Fair Play Regulations


On April 8, 2022, Čeferin announced that UEFA will use the Financial Sustainability Regulation (FSR) to curb the unlimited spending of wealthy clubs across Europe with stricter and fair regulations, to replace the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, which has been in use for many years.


Under the Financial Sustainability Regulation, limiting the proportion of a club's spending has become its core. The regulation stipulates that football-related expenses of all club expenses cannot exceed 70% of the club's operating income.


Under the new regulations, UEFA will set a three-year buffer period. During the buffer period, the allowable loss range of each club will double from €30,000 to €60 million to €65 million. While clubs with good record will be allowed to lose an additional €10 million a year. The new regulations will come into force in June 2022 and be phased in over three years to give all clubs enough time to adjust.


In addition, in order to better control player wages and transfer costs, UEFA has also introduced operating cost rules. The sum of each club's wage expenditure, agency fees, and transfer fees per season shall not exceed 70% of operating income. The governing body will conduct regular evaluations, and violators will be incurred financial penalties and other competitive penalties.


The main objective of the introduction of the Financial Sustainability Regulation is to achieve financial sustainability, which will be achieved through three pillars, namely club solvency, stability and cost control. For solvency, the new no-overdue payment provision will ensure better creditor protection and quarterly controls to reduce the tolerance for default. In addition, Čeferin also believes that the evolution of the existing balance of payments will bring greater maneuverability to the financial situation of all clubs.



Fans also object to Boehly's approach


Regarding Todd Boehly's plan to spend €120 million to buy out Fernández on the premise that he has already spent endlessly, the two renowned British presenter of YouTube channel Football Daily, Sam Obaseki and Zac Djellab, who were also loyal fans of Chelsea also spoke out against the approach.


Obaseki said that judging from the fact that Chelsea had only signed wonderkid Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa during the summer transfer window, but they did not use him, and yet still wanted to buy De Jong, Bellingham and sign Fernández from the Portuguese Primeira Liga leaders, coupled with the fact that they still brought in David Datro Fofana and Nkunku, knowing that they already had Sterling, Aubameyang, Kai Havertz, Armando Broja and others proved that the club has never had a good plan and instead is going around signing players in the hope that there will always be some players who will bring success.


Djellab agrees and thinks these players are more like players that Boehly wanted to sign personally. He also said that as an owner, Boehly should not interfere too much upon manager Graham Potter's authority, because if this kind of practice continues, it will only creates friction for the players in the dressing room.


Obaseki did not forget to use Barcelona as an example to remind that history has repeatedly proved that spending hundreds of millions on signings will not necessarily bring success, but will sooner or later drag down the club's reputation and financial resources. Hence, the Premier League giants should stop having the mentality of "I mustn't lack behind and I must have them when others are pursuing some players" when it comes to dealing with the developments in the transfer market.