Aston Villa and Chelsea left reeling by ‘serious’ punishment – ‘I’m absolutely stunned’
Aston Villa and Chelsea have both been hit with major penalties after UEFA cracked down on the clubs exploiting financial loopholes.
Villa sold their women’s side to themselves last month to avoid breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
This was a loophole that Chelsea had utilised the season before, in order to skirt around the regulations themselves.
However, both clubs have now been hit with major fines for breaking UEFA’s financial rules, as they disregard these types of intra-group sales.
Aston Villa’s former chief Keith Wyness– who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has revealed his shock at the extent of the punishment the pair received.
Premier League pair hit by ‘stunning’ financial penalty
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness stated that he was “absolutely stunned” when the Premier League duo’s penalties were announced.
Chelsea have been fined £27million by UEFA, with Aston Villa being forced to pay £9.5m for their breaches.
Wyness insisted that both clubs are not out of the woods yet, as they will face further punishment if they do not stick to the financial targets set out in the settlement.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Look, on this one, I’ve got to eat humble pie because last week, before the results came out, I said I did think it was going to be a fine, but I thought it was going to be a small fine. I thought it would be less than a million in some cases.
“I was absolutely stunned when the numbers came out for Chelsea and for Villa in terms of the scale.
“There’s a few things come to mind about this. Obviously, it’s UEFA playing tough. Without any doubt, these are serious fines, but it’s also the fact that there are only two years left for those clubs to get themselves in order, in terms of having a positive transfer balance. That’s a pretty serious thing.
“Villa, I think, could probably get away with it. Chelsea will probably get away with it as well.
“I was very surprised to see the strength and the scale of those situations. In a way, I think it’s quite good that there are some teeth there and somebody somewhere is policing this sort of loophole.
“Overall, an interesting decision. It did surprise me, and it’s got some interesting ramifications.”
Chelsea land £80m windfall
Meanwhile, Football Insider has revealed that Chelsea have banked more than £80million in prize money after securing their place in the Club World Cup final.
The Premier League side had a mixed start to the competition after beating LAFC and ES Tunis either side of their defeat to Flamengo in the group stage.
Chelsea needed extra-time to get past Benfica in the round of 16 before securing a 2-1 victory over Palmeiras in the quarter-finals.
The Blues beat Fluminense 2-0 in the semi-finals on Tuesday (8 July), with new signing Joao Pedro scoring both goals in New Jersey.
Chelsea will now face either Real Madrid or PSG in the final on Sunday (13 July), where they aim to be crowned world champions.
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