The Times reported that the Premier League plans to submit a new proposal to the club this week to close the loopholes in rules allowing Chelsea to register profits by selling hotels and women's football teams to affiliates. Chelsea had previousl...
Chelsea had previously sold the women's football team for Β£198.7 million (although the deal value has not yet been approved by the Premier League) and sold two hotels for Β£70.5 million, which helped the club adhere to the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) over the past two seasons. The annual Premier League meeting will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 20 clubs are expected to vote on the rule changes to ensure that such transactions cannot be declared as income for PSR purposes, and proposals require support from at least 14 clubs to be passed.
club sources told the Times that the wording of the proposal could be crucial, and similar votes failed to pass a year ago because the club believed the wording was too broad and could even prevent them from reporting on proceeds for selling assets (such as real estate) to non-affiliated parties.
It is understood that some clubs believe that since Chelsea has exploited the loophole, other clubs should also enjoy the same opportunity, and the Premier League is still improving the final draft wording of the proposal for the amendment of the rules.
UEFA does not accept the sale of assets to affiliated companies as income. Previously, the Times disclosed that Chelsea is negotiating financial settlement with UEFA for violating fiscal rules (restricting club losses and player salaries, transfers, broker fees to revenue).
Chelsea transferred ownership of the women's football team to affiliate Blueco 22 Midco Ltd on June 28, only two days left before the financial deadline for fiscal year 2023-24 on June 30. This has resulted in Chelsea Football Holdings Limited's profit of Β£129.6 million in fiscal 2023-24, but is still considered a loss of Β£70.4 million under UEFA rules.
Club's final holding company, 22 Holdco Ltd (which also owns the Strasbourg Club in France), recorded a loss of Β£445.5 million in fiscal 2023-24. Since all subsidiaries require consolidated financial statements, the company is also unable to account for the sale of women's football teams as revenue.
Chelsea believes that Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian's recent 8% investment has pushed the women's football team's valuation to 245 million pounds.
