Breaking: UEFA punish Aston Villa for breaking rules and hand out eight-figure fine

UEFA has imposed an unconditional €11 million fine on Aston Villa for breaching financial regulations.

The club has been fined €5 million for failing to comply with football earnings rules and an additional €6 million for breaching squad cost rules (SCR).

The football earnings period covered the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, while the SCR is assessed based on the 2024 calendar year.

Villa has also been warned that they face a conditional fine of €5 million per year for the next three years if further breaches occur.

Additionally, Villa have agreed to be subject to a sporting restriction and, as a consequence, may not register any new player on its List A to UEFA club competitions unless the List A transfer balance is positive.

This is identified as the difference between the cost savings from outgoing players and the new costs from incoming players at any applicable deadline for the club’s submission of its List A.

This unconditionally applies in 2025/26 and is then unconditional in the 2026/27 season, if Villa has a Football Earnings deficit in the reporting period 2025.

Since Christmas, the club has been engaged in productive talks with UEFA to resolve the matter.

A framework has now been agreed, outlining how Villa will demonstrate financial sustainability going forward.

These sanctions do not affect Villa’s long-term ambitions or their overarching project to consistently compete at the domestic and European levels – an blueprint established years ago by owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

This summer, Villa plan to reduce their wage bill, but the club remain confident that Unai Emery’s squad will stay competitive next season.

The goal for next season is to return to the Champions League – either by winning the Europa League or qualifying through their Premier League position.

Philippe Coutinho’s wages were removed from the books this week following his permanent move to Vasco da Gama. Additionally, Robin Olsen and Kortney Hause departed the club upon the expiry of their contracts.

Kosta Nedeljkovic, Emi Buendía and Alex Moreno are also expected to leave, which would further reduce the wage bill.

There could be a ‘big sale’, possibly being Emi Martínez, one of the club’s top earners, who turns 33 later this year – but Villa will not be conducting a fire sale.