Finalisation of club monitoring for the 2025/26 season

The First Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) finalised its assessment of the clubs participating in the 2025/26 UEFA club competitions and announced today a series of decisions involving clubs in breach of the financial sustainability requirements.

1. Football earnings rule

The CFCB First Chamber found that Newcastle United FC (ENG), Juventus FC (ITA), OGC Nice (FRA), Santa Clara (POR), FC Astana (KAZ) and FK Partizan (SRB) did not comply with the football earnings rule which was assessed for the first time on a 3-year aggregate basis in the 2025/26 season. The CFCB assessment covered the financial years ending in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Newcastle United FC and Juventus FC concluded a settlement agreement with the CFCB for a 3-year period, in line with the framework introduced last season. The duration of the settlement agreement depends on the club’s ability to comply with the regulations based on submitted projections. Consequently, each club is required to meet the final target and achieve full compliance with the football earnings rule by the end of the settlement period in the 2028/29 season (covering financial years ending in 2026, 2027 and 2028).

The table below summarises the financial disciplinary measures included in the settlement agreements:

The clubs agreed to the following obligations in the settlement agreement:

• to pay a fine, the level of which is based on the size of the assessed breach.

• to be subject to a restriction on the registration of new players on their List A for UEFA club competitions. Such measure is conditional or unconditional for each season covered by the settlement period depending on the club’s fulfilment of the conditions set in the settlement agreement.

• to reach intermediate annual targets, and be subject to the application of conditional financial and sporting measures should these targets not be met (i.e. from a stricter restriction on the registration of new players on the List A up to exclusion from the next UEFA club competition for which they will qualify).

Further details on these settlement agreements will be published here.

OGC Nice and Santa Clara demonstrated that their breach of the football earnings rule was temporary and were fined €2m and €1m, respectively, of which €1.7m and €850,000 are conditional and only payable if the club does not fulfil the football earnings rule in the 2026/27 season (covering financial years ending in 2024, 2025 and 2026).

Finally, FC Astana and FK Partizan reported a minor breach of the football earnings rule and were fined €100,000 and €200,000, respectively.

2. Squad cost rule

The CFCB First Chamber found that Aston Villa FC (ENG), Chelsea FC (ENG), Newcastle United FC (ENG), Nottingham Forest FC (ENG), OGC Nice (FRA), RC Strasbourg (FRA), AEK Athens (GRE), ACF Fiorentina (ITA) and Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) breached the squad cost rule by reporting a squad cost ratio above 70% for the 2025 calendar year. As a result, each club was imposed a fine calculated in proportion to the percentage points above the defined limit and the size of the club’s squad cost excess.

The details of the fines imposed are as follows:

Clubs having committed a significant breach (marked with *) are also subject to a restriction on the registration of new players on their List A for the 2026/27 UEFA club competition season.

For RC Strasbourg, the portion of the fine exceeding the prize money earned by the club in the UEFA competition is conditional upon the club being able to significantly decrease its squad cost ratio in 2026.

Regarding Aston Villa FC and Chelsea FC, which had already been sanctioned in the previous season, the CFCB First Chamber took into consideration the improving trend in their squad cost ratio between 2024 and 2025 in line with projections submitted as part of their settlement agreement. As a result, part of the fine is conditional upon the clubs continuing to significantly decrease their squad cost ratio in 2026.

Finally, Bologna FC (ITA) and SSC Napoli (ITA) also reported a squad cost ratio above 70%. However, their deviation was fully mitigated by the football earnings surplus reported in financial years ending in 2025 and 2026, a factor provided in the regulations.

3. Incomplete financial information

The CFCB First Chamber found that FK Vardar Skopje (MKD) declared an incomplete reporting perimeter which was corrected in the financial year ending in 2025. The club was imposed a fine of €250,000. Moreover, if the same offence is committed in the next three seasons, the club will face exclusion from the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify.

Any final reasoned and binding decisions from the CFCB will be published on UEFA.com in due course.