Chelsea Financial Fairplay: Chelsea is gearing up for a potential confrontation with the Premier League regarding a breach of financial fairplay rules. The club is prepared to use Antonio Rudiger’s departure to Real Madrid on a free transfer last season as one of the reasons for their significant financial losses. Follow Premier League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN
Chelsea reported a loss of £121 million for the 2021-22 season, attributing it to “extraordinary expenses and loss of revenue” due to government restrictions imposed last year. However, according to sources, Sportsmail has learned that the club incurred only a few million pounds in costs due to the restrictions.
🚨 Chelsea face having to raise substantial amounts of cash by selling off players this summer to avoid breaching the Premier League’s financial rules next year after reporting large losses for a second successive season.
Kieran Maguire, a football finance author, said the club…
— Chelsea Dodgers 🧢 (@TheBlueDodger) March 27, 2023
Chelsea prohibited from receiving revenue
Following the imposition of sanctions on Roman Abramovich on March 10 last year, Chelsea was prohibited from receiving any revenue from the government until the Todd Boehly takeover was finalized on May 28. However, by that time, the club had already collected the vast majority of its income for the season.
Nonetheless, the club did suffer losses from being unable to sell merchandise, match-day food and drink, and programs during the sanctioned period.
According to the accounts released this week, Chelsea’s losses for the last three-year period under the Premier League amount to £241.9 million. The club made a profit of £32.5 million in 2019-20, but suffered a record loss of £153.4 million in the following year, putting them at risk of exceeding the limit of £105 million, which is a breach of the regulations.
Antonio Rudiger joined Real Madrid on a free transfer last summer after failing to agree on a new deal with Chelsea. Had he been under contract, the 30-year-old defender would have been worth tens of millions of pounds.
The financial concerns at Chelsea are evident from their inclusion on a watchlist of clubs at risk of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations in September last year. However, this may not be relevant if they fail to qualify for Europe.
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