Chelsea face potential Champions League BAN: It’s time for BlueCo to act

Robin Bairner

14 Nov 2025 07:50 GMT
4 min read

Chelsea owners BlueCo are facing the reality that the Stamford Bridge side could be banned from the Champions League next season.

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Enzo Maresca’s side may be the reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions and be handily placed in the Champions League this term, but there’s no guarantee the Blues will be able to return to the competition next term.

The reason stems from BlueCo’s multi-club ownership.

Chelsea find themselves in competition with sister club Strasbourg, who are threatening to qualify for the competition via a strong Ligue 1 finish.

Liam Rosenior’s side sit fourth in France but are just three points behind second-placed Marseille. Suppose Strasbourg were to qualify for the Champions League and finish in a higher league position than Chelsea in the Premier League. In that case, the precedent is that they would get priority to enter the competition at the Blues’ expense.

UEFA’s stance over multi-club models was made clear in a letter sent to member associations in October 2024, in which it was emphasised that no company or individual may be involved in the running of two clubs in continental competition.

It states that no club can:

“hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition”

“be a member of any other club” in the same competition

“be involved … in the management, administration and/or sporting performance” of another such club

“have any power whatsoever in the management … of any other club” in that competition.

Clubs have until 1 March, 2026 to satisfy UEFA, which has allowed teams from the same ownership group to compete in different competitions, that they satisfy all these criteria.

© IMAGO - Enzo Maresca's Chelsea must prove they're unique from Strasbourg

Time for BlueCo to act

BlueCo may need to look for a loophole to prevent Chelsea from being blocked from the Champions League.

This could involve a change of ownership structure, which is how Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig have managed to negotiate the problem.

BlueCo could also reduce its ownership stake in one of the clubs – this would naturally be Strasbourg – with Manchester United and Nice given dispensation to play together in the Europa League because Ineos only have minority control at Old Trafford.

Chelsea faced the same issue last year, so have no doubt a blueprint in place to avoid this potential catastrophe. BBC Sport reported on the issue last year that talks had taken place between BlueCo and UEFA, though it was unclear how the situation would be resolved.

Should both clubs be involved in the same European competition, transfers between them will be banned, although how this will affect the deal in place to take Emmanuel Emegha to Stamford Bridge next summer is also uncertain.

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