On Monday, English Club Chelsea FC posted their yearly financial accounts that depicted a loss, but the good news was that the club was able to comply with FFP regulations
Defending Champions Chelsea FC posted their annual accounts and declared a loss of A?23.1m for the 2014-15 season. Despite such a huge loss, Chelsea FC will still be able to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules after being able to keep their deficit within their FFP limits thanks to a profit of A?18.4m in 13-14 season.
Chelsea FC chairman Bruce Buck was happy to announce that they have been able to achieve their primary financial target of complying with FFP.
a It was a primary aim in the past financial year to be one of the clubs with a continuous record of meeting the regulations.a
Chelsea FC, who have complied with FFP throughout its monitoring periods which began with the 2011/12 season, announced a drop in revenues to A?314.3m after their record high of A?319.8m in 13-14. The downfall could be attributed to the Bluesa poor performance in the UEFA Champions League, where they could manage only a spot in the last sixteen compared to a run till the semi-finals the previous year.
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Expected improvements in revenue
Chelsea FC signed quite a few major sponsorship deals which will come into effect from this season and they should help break their revenue record from 13-14, provided they can turn around their performance and qualify for the UEFA Champions League. The new shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Tyres, reportedly worth A?40m per season, will become the major driving force in improving the revenues compared to the Samsung deal.
Buck was quoted saying to BBC that their new deals will help them maintain their ambitions of regularly complying with FFP.
“These will be powered by new commercial deals, including our record-breaking partnership with Yokohama
“They will also be enhanced by revenues related to this season’s Champions League which improve due to entering as Premier League champions and an increase in TV revenue for English clubs.”
UEFA had introduced FFP after many clubs across Europe were observed to be spending way beyond their means. The intention, though good, has proven to be a bad decision forcing UEFA to backtrack on their strict regulations. The FFP law has been criticised with some saying that it helps maintain the status of the elite clubs and doesn’t help other clubs break their monopoly.
