UEFA multi-club rules explained amid Chelsea and Strasbourg Champions League hope

The UEFA flag at Villa Park during Aston Villa's clash against Bayern Munich (Image: Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Chelsea and RC Strasbourg Alsace could be denied a place in the UEFA Champions League even if they finish in the qualifaction spots this season. In May 2022, Clearlake Capital, owned by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, and Todd Boehly joined forces to buy the west London outfit from Roman Abramovich .

The consortium acquired Chelsea for £4.25bn, making the Blues the most expensive football club in the world. A year or so later, BlueCo, the parent company formed as the investment vehicle for the takeover, secured a majority stake in Strasbourg.

Clearlake Capital and Boehly acquired close to 100 per cent ownership for €75m (£65m). When BlueCo bought Strasbourg in June 2023, the French club had just escaped relegation from the top flight by five points .

Now, Liam Rosenior's side are battling for qualification to the Champions League. Clearlake Capital and Boehly have done an excellent job across the Channel, but they've encountered a problem .

What are the UEFA multi-club rules?

In March 2025, UEFA updated their multi-club ownership rules ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. In article five of the Champions League rulebook , the European football governing body outlined its mission to ensure the integrity of its club competitions.

In short, UEFA do not permit the partnership, alliance and/or cooperation of individuals, directly or indirectly, between clubs in a significant position of power. From the owners to the boardroom, from the sporting directors to the coaches, the rules are strict on paper.

UEFA states: "The club must be able to prove, as at 1 March 2025, the below multi-club ownership criteria were met and the club must continue to comply with the below criteria from that date until the end of the competition season."

The first of three criteria outlines that no club participating in a UEFA club competition may, either directly or indirectly:

The second of three criteria states: "No one may simultaneously be involved, either directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition."

And, the third of three criteria outlines: "No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, such control or influence being defined in this context."

This is defined as:

What happens if Chelsea breach UEFA multi-club rules?

In short, if Chelsea and Strasbourg both secure qualification to the Champions League and they fail to comply with UEFA's multi-club and ownership rules, only one of them will be admitted into the competition.

UEFA have outlined the qualification criteria, applicable in descending order:

As it stands, prior to the Newcastle clash, Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League, meanwhile Strasbourg at sixth in Ligue 1. Fortunately for the Blues, England tops the access list, which is more commonly referred to as the coefficient table.

What do Chelsea need to do to comply?

There are two ways around UEFA's multi-club ownership rules: reduce a stake in one of them or put one of them into a blind trust so an individual cannot exert influence over two clubs.

Premier League rivals show Chelsea how it's done...

Chelsea are certainly not the first Premier League club to have encountered this problem. Tony Bloom reduced his stake in Union-Saint Gilloise when Brighton qualified for the Europa League ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Evangelos Marinakis recently diluted his control of Nottingham Forest in preparation for possible Champions League qualification, with Olympiakos set to qualify for the competition by winning the Greek top flight.

On paper, Marinakis is no longer a 'person with significant control' of the company that owns Forest. After acquiring a minority stake in Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his two other INEOS-owned clubs (OGC Nice in France and Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland) into this structure too.

City Football Group, who own Manchester City, also moved Girona into a blind trust. So, while Chelsea are at risk of breaching UEFA's multi-club ownership rules, it's become a common – and easily avoidable – bump on the road for many Premier League clubs and their owners.

So, what happens now?

So, to cut a long story short, BlueCo just need to ensure that there isn't a conflict of interests at Chelsea and Strasbourg. Seeing as the two clubs have both been recently acquired and are part of a long-term project, it's likely that one will just be put into a blind trust – if, of course, they both secure qualification to the Champions League in the next few weeks.