Chelsea at risk of Champions League ban | OneFootball

Chelsea are thought to have been put off expanding their multi-club model due to the conflict of interest presented by the potential involvement of sister club Strasbourg in the Champions League.

BlueCo, the consortium fronted by Todd Boehly and US private equity firm Clearlake Capital, have owned Chelsea since 2022 and expanded their portfolio of clubs with the acquisition of French top-flight side Strasbourg in June 2023.

UEFA regulations prohibit one entity from directly or indirectly controlling two teams in the same competition. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has previously hinted at some wiggle room in these restrictions but nothing significant has emerged, prompting the likes of Chelsea to seriously reconsider their investment in multiple teams.

"It is definitely having an impact," an unnamed source told The Telegraph. "There is not so much incentive for owners to invest in European clubs, as part of a multi-club structure, if they cannot be competitive.

"Owners who already have European clubs are having second thoughts about buying more, while some of those that had planned to buy a European club have started to look elsewhere or just pause the idea entirely."

Strasbourg sit seventh in Ligue 1 but are within one win of the top six which guarantees access to UEFA competitions and are just four points adrift of Monaco in the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot.

In the event that two members of the same multi-club project both qualify for the same European competition, the side with the highest rank in their domestic top flight takes preference. Thus, if Strasbourg finish higher in Ligue 1 than Chelsea in the Premier League, it would be the Blues who are denied access to the Champions League and instead have to settle for the continent's second tier.

Manchester United risked this scenario last season. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS has a 27.7% stake in the Red Devils and boasts a majority ownership of French side Nice. Both teams qualified for the 2024/25 Europa League, with Nice finishing fifth in Ligue 1 and eighth-placed United winning the FA Cup.

According to UEFA's regulations, United would have been demoted to the Conference League, but INEOS transferred its shares into a blind trust until 1 July 2025 to avoid any conflict of interest. Chelsea may be advised to perform the same workaround.