Juventus have been expelled from the Europa Conference League for this season and punished by Uefa for breaking the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
In addition, Chelsea was punished by the organization that oversees European football for “submitting incomplete financial information” which resulted in a violation of the FFP guidelines.
The issue, according to Uefa, concerns transactions that happened between 2012 and 2019. Chelsea was penalized £8.57 million, while Juventus was assessed a £17.14 million fine.
The Italian club will only have to pay half of their fine if their financial records for the next three years comply with regulations, while Chelsea have already agreed to pay the settlement figure.
The Blues have spent around £600m on 19 new players since new owner Todd Boehly took charge of the club in May 2022, but their fine relates to a seven-year period while Roman Abramovich had control of the club.
Uefa said: “Following the club’s sale in May 2022, the new ownership identified, and proactively reported to Uefa, instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership.” In response, Chelsea said they “fully co-operated and assisted Uefa” in their investigations and “entered into a settlement agreement” with the governing body.
“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency with its regulators, we are grateful that this case has been concluded by proactive disclosure of information to Uefa and a settlement that fully resolves the reported matters,” said the Premier League club.
According to the BBC, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) must now notify Uefa of which club will replace Juve in the third-tier European competition. It is likely to be Fiorentina, who were beaten by West Ham in last year’s final after they finished eighth in Serie A.
The case against Juventus follows a 718,000 euro (£620,000) fine as part of a settlement agreement with Italian football authorities over a case concerning the payment of player salaries.
Juventus had also been docked 10 Serie A points last season following a hearing into the club’s past transfer dealings.
