UEFA could ban huge team from the Champions League and sanction two others
Major European club to face huge implications after FFP breach, two other clubs also set to face measures
UEFA could be within its rights to ban giant of European football as it looks at what clubs have breached the specific rules required to play in the Champions League.
Every year, the governing body for European football looks in to potential rule breaches across all clubs taking part in its competitions. From the Champions League to the Europa League and more recently, the Europa Conference League, there are plenty of regulations football clubs must abide by to take part and have a chance of winning silverware.
And for 2025, it could result in one major ban as well as sanctions against two other clubs for breaches.
Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Barcelona are the three clubs at risk of action from UEFA due to breaches relating to financial irregularities.
Barcelona could be banned by UEFA
Barcelona is the club that could be facing serious risk as they have been in FFP trouble for the second consecutive year, while Chelsea and Aston Villa also breached but face a lenient punishment.
The Catalan club appealed after they were found to have breached the UEFA rules last year, but were fined £420,000 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
After giving the judgement, CAS also said: “A similar breach would be addressed by the imposition of a harsher disciplinary measure” from UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board (CFCB).”
The club decided to sell their broadcasting media rights and in-house content hub, in a bid to stay within the UEFA financial rules, but the organisation considered the funds to be ‘profits on disposal of intangible assets.’
No Champions League for Barcelona?
According to Times, an FFP breach for the second year in a row could lead to serious implications for the Blaugranas.
The punishment is set to be announced soon and could likely be squad size reduction or points deduction. Last year, the club was given the possibility of a ban after one year of breaches, meaning the risk is higher for two years in a row.
Barcelona have been in financial turmoil for several years and have tried a lot of ways to gain some financial stability.
Chelsea and Aston Villa expected to be fined
Chelsea and Aston Villa also breached the UEFA’s financial rules, but are expected to face not so severe punishments as they are first time offenders.
The London based club came at the top of Premier League’s PSR charts after the sale of the Chelsea Women’s team.
But UEFA did not approve of the sale to a sister company and this has led to the Blues likely facing a fine alongside another Premier League team Villa. According to Bryan King – a former scout of the team, Villa could face a £5 million fine.
Both Chelsea and Villa have held discussions with CFCB over a financial settlement. Chelsea qualified to the Champions League after a final day win in the Premier League over Nottingham Forest.
While Villa were in the competition last season and lost to eventual champions Paris Saint Germain in the Quarter-final. They will play in the Europa League next season after having failed to win against Manchester United on the final day of the season.
UEFA has banned four clubs from competing in the Champions League
The Champions League is Europe’s premier club competition.
Four clubs have previously been banned from competing in the Champions League by UEFA.
Over the years, the Champions League has been seen as the premier club competition in European football.
Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid are the kings of the competition, having won 15 Champions League titles.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are the Premier League side with the most Champions League trophies, having lifted the prestigious European Cup on six occasions.
However, the competition has seen some controversial moments throughout the years, with four clubs reportedly banned from taking part in UEFA tournaments.
As reported by Four Four Two, there have been at least four sides that received a ban from UEFA.
Besiktas
Besiktas are one of the biggest clubs in Turkey and a household name in European football.
However, back in 2013, they were banned from playing in UEFA competitions for allegedly being involved in domestic match-fixing.
They were handed a one-year ban after a failed appeal.
Fenerbahce
Similar to Besiktas, Fenerbahce were also reportedly involved in a match-fixing scandal back in 2013.
They were slapped with a two-year ban, while appealing the decision, Fenerbahce lost to Arsenal in a Champions League play-off against Arsenal.
Juventus
The Italian Serie A giants were suspended from UEFA competitions for the 23/24 season after being accused of breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
FK Pobeda
North Macedonian outfit FK Pobeda were hit with a huge eight-year ban in 2009 for allegedly ‘manipulating the outcome of a match’.
The report stated: “Irregular betting patterns were observed in relation to a Champions League qualifier against Armenia’s FC Pyunik five years earlier.”
Back in 2020, it was reported that UEFA’s two-year ban imposed on Premier League side Manchester City was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
City were originally suspended for a ‘serious breach of UEFA’s financial fair play rules’.
UEFA has banned/suspended 13 teams from competing in the Europa League in its history, and the reasons range from corruption to financial issues.
UEFA – European football’s governing body – oversees tournaments such as the Euros, Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
But sometimes they have intervened and stopped some clubs from competing due to various rule breaches.
Four clubs have been banned from competing in the Champions League, which is widely seen as UEFA’s premier club competition, while two nations have been banned from competing at the European Championships since it began in 1960.
But what clubs have been made to sit out the Europa League, UEFA’s secondary club competition?
Besiktas were banned from the competition in June 2013 and served a one-year suspension for their involvement in domestic match-fixing, as reported by BBC Sport at the time.
Fellow Turkish side Fenerbahçe were also handed a two-year ban for their involvement in domestic match-fixing.
AC Milan were banned from the 2019/20 Europa League over breaches of Financial Fair Play rules.
“AC Milan is excluded from UEFA club competitions of the sporting season 2019-2020,” said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at the time.
AC Milan confirmed their “voluntary acceptance” of the ban, according to BBC Sport.
In 2012, Spanish outfit Malaga were given a two-year UEFA suspension and were banned from competing in the Europa League in 2013/14 because of unpaid bills.
The second year was waived on appeal, but CAS rejected their attempt to overturn the first.
Swiss side FC Sion were expelled from the 2011/12 Europa League for fielding ineligible players who were signed while the club was still under a transfer ban imposed by FIFA. This allowed Celtic to be reinstated into the competition in that season.
The CAS upheld the decision despite FC Sion’s appeal.
Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade were banned from the Champions League and Europa League for three seasons in 2017 due to unpaid debts. The ban was later overturned after they provided evidence that they had cleared unpaid debts.
Scotland’s Rangers were unable to compete in European competition in 2013/14 as the club’s “administrator… conceded that the club are unable to meet Uefa’s 31 March accounts deadline”.
In 2013, Rapid Bucharest were also handed a one-year European club competition ban for the Europa League and Champions League.
They were also punished with a fine of 100,000 euros (£86,000).
Meanwhile, Steaua were also handed a suspended one-year ban with a five-year probationary period after allegations of match-fixing, as reported by Sofia Globe.
The Ukrainian side, Dnipro, received a one-year ban in 2016 over financial issues.
Azeri club Inter Baku and Romania’s Târgu Mureș were also given one-season suspensions.
UEFA said the bans would be enforced in the next season the clubs qualified for the Champions League or Europa League for a three-season period, according to Reuters.
In 2018, Albanian side, Skënderbeu, were given a ten-year ban from all UEFA competitions, including the Europa League, as well as a €1 million fine, after CAS said its panel “found to its comfortable satisfaction that Skenderbeu was responsible for match-fixing activities” in both domestic and continental matches as per AP.
It must be noted that some of the bans mentioned cover both the Champions League and Europa League, depending on which competition each club would’ve competed in.
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