Aston Villa have begun discussions with Uefa’s club financial control body (CFCB) over a financial settlement after being found in breach of the European governing body’s squad cost ratio rules (SCR) last season.
Under Uefa regulations clubs in European competition were required to keep spending on player wages and fees to 80% of revenue last season, a percentage that has dropped to 70% this season.
Villa published their 2023-24 accounts last week, which revealed the overall wage bill was £252m and their revenue £257.7m. Although the wages of non-football staff do not count towards Uefa SCR calculations, the Guardian has been told their player costs exceeded the 80% cap last season, when Unai Emery’s side reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Villa have not commented on their compliance or otherwise with Uefa’s regulations, although they provided an indication they may be found in breach in their 2023-24 financial report. A note in their accounts stated that “we continue to operate within the Premier League’s Profit [sic] and Sustainability Rules” (PSR), but Uefa’s SCR was not mentioned.
Villa were fined £52,000 by Uefa last year for late submission of accounts and are facing another financial penalty. They will be involved in the decision-making process. The CFCB operates independently from Uefa’s leadership with a brief to facilitate compliance with the regulations.
The CFCB is likely to make Villa submit to a spending plan and give itself powers to impose tougher sanctions if the club fail to stick to it. Roma were fined £1.75m for repeated breaches in 2023 and Istanbul Basaksehir were given a suspended one-year ban from Uefa competitions and put under a registration embargo last year.
Villa are unlikely to be given such severe penalties at this stage, although the CFCB will insist they cut their wage bill. The club may struggle to comply with SCR this season without raising revenue by selling players in June.
A summer sale of players including Douglas Luiz, Omari Kellyman and Tim Iroegbunam which raised almost £70m was required for Villa to comply with the Premier League’s PSR regulations last summer. The club spent the second half of last season lobbying for the three-year permitted losses limit be increased from £105m to £135m but their proposal failed to get sufficient support at the Premier League’s AGM.
Chelsea are also in negotiations with the CFCB, because although SCR rules did not apply to them last season given they did not play in Europe, the club appear to have breached Uefa’s three-year loss limit of £170m. Uefa’s financial regulations do not allow clubs to declare income from selling assets to sister companies, as Chelsea have done twice in the past two financial years through the sale of two hotels at Stamford Bridge and their women’s club to BlueCo 22 for a combined £275.2m.
Chelsea announced profits of £128m in their accounts last week but by Uefa’s accounting measures they made losses. The club should have no problem complying with SCR if they qualify for Europe next season, however, because the owners have reduced the wage bill to £338m from £404m the previous season. Their 2023-24 revenue fell to £468.5m in the absence of Champions League or any European football.
Aston Villa and Uefa declined to comment.
