2 July 2026
Summary
This briefing sets out every club currently subject to a UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) disciplinary decision, settlement agreement, or active monitoring measure under the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Sustainability Regulations (CL&FSR), comprising the Football Earnings Rule and the Squad Cost Rule (the successor framework to Financial Fair Play), and cross-references each against confirmed or probable participation in 2026/27 UEFA club competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League).
The CFCB First Chamber finalised its assessment of the 2025/26 monitoring cycle on 30 June 2026, imposing unconditional disciplinary measures on 14 clubs and confirming two multi-year settlement agreements (Newcastle United and Juventus). Four English clubs, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, were found in breach of the Squad Cost Rule for the 2025 calendar year, with Newcastle also found in breach of the Football Earnings Rule on its first three-year aggregate assessment.
Of the sanctioned English clubs, only Aston Villa has qualified for 2026/27 UEFA competition, securing a Champions League place via their 2025/26 Europa League title. Chelsea, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest all fell outside the qualifying places for European football domestically and will not compete in a UEFA competition in 2026/27, meaning their CFCB sanctions (in Newcastle’s case, a live three-year settlement) will run without an accompanying UEFA-competition sporting sanction risk this season, though the financial and reporting obligations continue.
Aston Villa therefore represents the principal English-club watch-item for 2026/27: a significant breach finding, a €22.5m fine (entirely conditional on continued 2026 squad-cost-ratio reduction), and a restriction on registering new players to their UEFA Champions League List A. This is Villa’s third consecutive season of CFCB engagement, following an initial £9.5m sanction in July 2025.
Beyond England, seven other clubs carry active CFCB sanctions or settlement obligations relevant to 2026/27: RC Strasbourg (heaviest single squad-cost fine of the round, but not qualified for Europe this season), Fenerbahçe, Juventus (multi-year settlement, Europa League), AEK Athens, Fiorentina (not qualified), OGC Nice (qualification pending a domestic cup final) and FK Vardar Skopje (a reporting-integrity matter). Bologna and Napoli reported technical Squad Cost Rule breaches but were not sanctioned, as the excess was fully offset by football-earnings surpluses under the regulations.
- Aston Villa is the only English club combining (a) an active, significant CFCB sanction and (b) confirmed 2026/27 UEFA competition participation.
- Newcastle United’s three-year settlement agreement (to the 2028/29 season) remains legally live notwithstanding the club’s absence from Europe in 2026/27; conditions and intermediate targets continue to apply and will resurface as a sporting-sanction risk if Newcastle re-qualifies before the settlement concludes.
- No English club is currently subject to a transfer ban, points deduction, or exclusion from UEFA competition; all measures to date are fines and List A registration restrictions, with the more severe conditional elements held in suspense pending 2026 performance against submitted projections.
Source: UEFA.com, ‘Finalisation of club monitoring for the 2025/26 season’, 30 June 2026 (CFCB First Chamber); club statements;
Summary table: sanctioned & monitored clubs, 2026/27 Season
| Club | Country | Breach / Rule | Sanction Type | Status (Jul 2026) | 2026/27 UEFA Comp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa FC (ENG) | England | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%) significant breach; prior-season settlement | €22.5m fine (€22.5m conditional/suspended pending 2026 SCR improvement); List A registration restriction | Active: 3rd consecutive season under CFCB scrutiny | UEFA Champions League |
| Chelsea FC (ENG) | England | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%) narrow breach; prior-season settlement | €3m fine (€2m conditional) | Active but improving trend recognised by CFCB | Not qualified (7th; Europa League place lost to Sunderland) |
| Newcastle United FC (ENG) | England | Football Earnings Rule (3-yr aggregate, FY23–FY25) AND Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY) | 3-year settlement agreement: €10m fine (€7m unconditional); List A restriction; intermediate annual targets to FY28 | Active: formal settlement agreement to 2028/29 season | Not qualified for 2026/27 (finished outside top 5) |
| Nottingham Forest FC (ENG) | England | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%) | €2.5m fine (unconditional) | Active | Not qualified for 2026/27 |
| RC Strasbourg (FRA) | France | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY): significant breach | €25m fine (€12m conditional on 2026 SCR reduction); List A restriction | Active: heaviest SCR fine issued in this monitoring round | Not qualified for 2026/27 (finished 8th in Ligue 1) |
| Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) | Türkiye | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%) | €7m fine (unconditional) | Active | UEFA Champions League qualifying (2nd round, non-champions path) |
| ACF Fiorentina (ITA) | Italy | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%) | €6m fine (unconditional) | Active | Not qualified for 2026/27 (finished outside European places) |
| Juventus FC (ITA) | Italy | Football Earnings Rule (3-yr aggregate, FY23–FY25) | 3-year settlement agreement: €20m fine (fully unconditional) | Active: formal settlement agreement to 2028/29 season | UEFA Europa League |
| AEK Athens (GRE) | Greece | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70%): minor breach | €0.5m fine (unconditional) | Active but minor | UEFA Champions League play-off round |
| OGC Nice (FRA) | France | Football Earnings Rule (temporary breach) AND Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, minor) | €2m fine (€1.7m conditional on FY26/27 compliance) + €0.45m SCR fine | Active but breach deemed temporary | Uncertain: dependent on 2025/26 Coupe de France result |
| FK Vardar Skopje (MKD) | North Macedonia | Incomplete/inaccurate financial reporting perimeter (corrected FY25) | €0.25m fine; exclusion risk if repeated within 3 seasons | Active: reporting integrity monitoring | Not applicable (domestic-level licensing matter) |
Clubs with a technical breach but no sanction imposed (context):
| Club | Country | Breach / Rule | Sanction Type | Status (Jul 2026) | 2026/27 UEFA Comp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bologna FC (ITA) | Italy | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70% nominal) | No fine; fully mitigated by football-earnings surplus (FY25–FY26) | Concluded / no sanction | Not qualified for 2026/27 |
| SSC Napoli (ITA) | Italy | Squad Cost Rule (2025 CY, >70% nominal) | No fine; fully mitigated by football-earnings surplus (FY25–FY26) | Concluded / no sanction | UEFA Champions League |
Figures per UEFA CFCB First Chamber decision, 30 June 2026. “Significant breach” is UEFA’s own classification, triggering List A registration restriction in addition to a fine. Where marked ‘conditional’, the sum is payable only if the club fails to meet its 2026 squad-cost-ratio reduction target; where marked ‘unconditional’, the fine is payable regardless of 2026 performance.
Regulatory framework
The current CL&FSR framework, in force since the 2022/23 season and fully phased in from 2025/26, replaced the break-even-based Financial Fair Play regime with two principal tests:
- Football Earnings Rule: permits clubs to report losses of up to €60m over a rolling three-year assessment period (€90m if certain ‘good financial health’ indicators, including equity contributions, are met). The 2025/26 monitoring cycle was the first to assess this rule on a genuine three-year aggregate basis, covering financial years ending 2023, 2024 and 2025.
- Squad Cost Rule: caps spending on player and coaching wages, transfer amortisation and agent fees at 70% of a club’s relevant revenue (matchday, broadcasting, commercial and player sales, net of solidarity/training compensation), assessed on a single calendar-year basis.
Breaches of either rule can result in a fine, a restriction on registering new players to a club’s UEFA competition List A squad, or, for repeat or severe non-compliance, exclusion from the relevant UEFA competition. Since the 2024/25 monitoring cycle, the CFCB has also offered multi-year settlement agreements to clubs with a credible compliance trajectory, in place of a single-season sanction; these carry annual intermediate targets and escalating consequences for missed milestones, up to and including competition exclusion.
Source: UEFA.com, CFCB First Chamber decision, 30 June 2026; UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Sustainability Regulations.
English clubs
Aston Villa FC
2026/27 UEFA Competition: UEFA Champions League (qualified via 2025/26 UEFA Europa League title, in addition to a 4th-place Premier League finish)
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule: squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year, classified by the CFCB as a ‘significant breach’
Sanction: €22.5m (£19.4m) fine, of which the entire €22.5m is conditional on Villa continuing to significantly reduce its squad cost ratio during 2026. A restriction on registering new players to the club’s UEFA Champions League List A squad for 2026/27 has also been imposed; UEFA is expected to confirm the precise scope of this restriction separately.
Regulatory History: This is Villa’s third consecutive season of CFCB engagement. The club was first sanctioned in July 2025 with a £9.5m fine for a prior-year Squad Cost Rule breach. The CFCB’s 30 June 2026 decision explicitly credits Villa (alongside Chelsea) with an “improving trend” in squad cost ratio between 2024 and 2025, in line with projections the club has submitted – the basis on which the fine has been made wholly conditional rather than immediately payable.
Status as at 2 July 2026: Active. The conditional structure of the fine means Villa’s actual financial exposure for this cycle will not crystallise until UEFA assesses 2026 calendar-year figures, expected in the 2026/27 monitoring cycle.
Villa carry the only live combination of (i) a significant CFCB finding, (ii) a List A registration restriction, and (iii) confirmed Champions League participation among English clubs this season.
The suspended nature of the €22.5m fine creates a direct incentive, and a direct financial tail-risk, tied to squad-cost discipline through the 2026 calendar year, which will intersect with the club’s summer 2026 transfer window activity and wage commitments.
Sources: UEFA.com, ‘Finalisation of club monitoring for the 2025/26 season’, 30 June 2026; Sky Sports, 30 June 2026; Goal.com, 30 June 2026; Sporting Tribune, 1 July 2026.
Chelsea FC
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not qualified. Chelsea finished outside the European qualification places in the Premier League and lost the final-day Europa League spot to Sunderland.
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule; squad cost ratio narrowly above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €3m fine, of which €2m is conditional on continued squad-cost-ratio reduction in 2026
Regulatory History: Chelsea, like Villa, was previously sanctioned by the CFCB and is treated by UEFA as showing an improving squad-cost trend between 2024 and 2025.
Status as at 2 July 2026: Active, but with materially reduced practical significance given Chelsea’s absence from UEFA competition in 2026/27. In a club statement, Chelsea confirmed engagement with the CFCB and stated the 70% threshold was “narrowly exceeded.”
Sources: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026; club statement, 30 June–1 July 2026.
Newcastle United FC
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not qualified. Newcastle finished outside the top five Premier League places required for Champions League qualification and did not secure an alternative European route.
Rules Breached: (1) Football Earnings Rule, breach on the first three-year aggregate assessment, covering financial years ending 2023, 2024 and 2025; (2) Squad Cost Rule, squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: Newcastle entered a three-year CFCB settlement agreement (the framework introduced in the 2024/25 cycle) covering financial years ending 2026, 2027 and 2028, with a total fine of €10m, of which €7m is unconditional.
A separate €3m fine was imposed for the Squad Cost Rule breach (unconditional). Under the settlement, Newcastle must meet annual intermediate targets and is subject to a List A registration restriction that is conditional or unconditional season-by-season depending on compliance; missed targets escalate toward exclusion from the club’s next UEFA competition.
Status as at 2 July 2026: Active and legally binding through the 2028/29 season regardless of Newcastle’s 2026/27 UEFA-competition absence. This is a genuine multi-year regulatory commitment, not a single-season sanction, and will re-engage sporting consequences (registration restrictions, potential exclusion) if Newcastle qualifies for Europe again before the settlement concludes.
Because Newcastle is outside Europe in 2026/27, the settlement’s sporting-restriction elements are dormant this season, but the financial obligations and intermediate compliance targets continue to apply and should be tracked against the club’s FY26 accounts, expected later in 2026/27.
Sources: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026 (settlement table); 30 June 2026.
Nottingham Forest FC
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not qualified for 2026/27.
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule, squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €2.5m fine, unconditional (no portion suspended)
Status as at 2 July 2026: Active as a financial matter; no sporting-sanction relevance for 2026/27 given the club’s absence from UEFA competition this season.
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
Non-English clubs
RC Strasbourg (France)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not qualified. Strasbourg finished outside Ligue 1’s European qualification places for 2026/27 after competing in the 2025/26 Conference League.
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule, significant breach, squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €25m fine, the largest single Squad Cost Rule fine of this monitoring round, of which €12m is conditional. UEFA’s decision specifies that the portion of the fine exceeding the prize money Strasbourg earned in UEFA competition is conditional upon a significant 2026 squad-cost-ratio reduction. A List A registration restriction also applies given the ‘significant breach’ classification, though this is moot for 2026/27 in the absence of UEFA-competition qualification.
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
Juventus FC (Italy)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: UEFA Europa League
Rule Breached: Football Earnings Rule, three-year aggregate assessment, financial years ending 2023–2025
Sanction: Three-year CFCB settlement agreement, €20m fine, fully unconditional (payable in full regardless of future compliance), plus the standard settlement obligations: List A registration restrictions (conditional/unconditional by season) and annual intermediate compliance targets running to the 2028/29 season.
Status as at 2 July 2026: Active and directly relevant given confirmed 2026/27 Europa League participation; registration-restriction terms for this specific season should be confirmed against UEFA’s published case details.
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
Fenerbahçe SK (Türkiye)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds (non-champions path, second qualifying round entry per UEFA’s coefficient-based access list); a Europa League fallback route applies if eliminated.
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule, squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €7m fine, unconditional
Sources: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026; UEFA coefficient/access-list data (kassiesa.net, cross-referenced against UEFA.com).
ACF Fiorentina (Italy)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not qualified, Fiorentina finished outside Serie A’s European qualification places for 2026/27.
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule, squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €6m fine, unconditional
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
AEK Athens (Greece)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: UEFA Champions League play-off round (as 2025/26 Greek Super League champions)
Rule Breached: Squad Cost Rule, minor breach above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €0.5m fine, unconditional
Sources: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026;
OGC Nice (France)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Uncertain at the time of writing (2 July 2026), Nice’s European qualification depends on the outcome of the 2025/26 Coupe de France final between Lens and Nice, given knock-on effects on Ligue 1’s European-place allocation.
Rules Breached: (1) Football Earnings Rule, CFCB accepted the breach was temporary; (2) Squad Cost Rule – minor breach above 70% for the 2025 calendar year
Sanction: €2m Football Earnings Rule fine (€1.7m conditional on compliance in the 2026/27 assessment cycle, covering financial years ending 2024–2026), plus a separate €0.45m Squad Cost Rule fine
Sources: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026; Ligue1.com, May 2026 (French qualification scenarios).
FK Vardar Skopje (North Macedonia)
2026/27 UEFA Competition: Not applicable to this finding, this is a licensing/reporting-integrity matter rather than a squad-cost or earnings breach, and does not by itself establish 2026/27 UEFA-competition status.
Finding: Incomplete reporting perimeter declared, corrected in the financial year ending 2025
Sanction: €0.25m fine; a repeat offence within the next three seasons carries exclusion from the club’s next qualified UEFA competition
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
Bologna FC and SSC Napoli (Italy), for context, no sanction imposed
Both clubs reported a nominal squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year, but the CFCB found the excess fully offset by football-earnings surpluses reported in the financial years ending 2025 and 2026, a mitigating mechanism built into the regulations. Neither club was fined or restricted. Napoli have qualified for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League; Bologna have not qualified for European competition in 2026/27.
Source: UEFA.com, 30 June 2026.
Sources
- UEFA.com, ‘Finalisation of club monitoring for the 2025/26 season’, CFCB First Chamber, published 30 June 2026 – primary regulatory source for all breach findings, fine amounts, and settlement terms.
- UEFA.com, CFCB case-details portal (running-competitions/integrity/club-financial-control-body/cases) – referenced for further published case documentation.
- UEFA.com, ‘Access list: track which sides will play in the 2026/27 UEFA men’s club competitions’, dynamic access-list tool.
This report reflects information published and verified as at 2 July 2026. UEFA’s CFCB case-by-case reasoned decisions, where not yet published in full, may refine specific figures (particularly the precise scope of List A registration restrictions); the summary table should be read alongside UEFA’s own case-details portal once fully populated.