Barcelona at Risk of ‘Unprecedented’ Champions League Punishments | OneFootball

Barcelona could face a variety of sanctions from UEFA in next season’s Champions League—including a potential points deduction—after allegedly breaching the competition’s financial regulations for a second time, a report has claimed.

The Catalan giants have been mired in financial uncertainty for years. A spiralling wage bill crippled the club once the coronavirus pandemic removed a glut of revenue streams. Barcelona have undertaken various unorthodox methods to continue spending in the transfer market, infamously bringing in “palancas”.

These ‘financial levers’ effectively saw the club sell future earnings to receive an immediate windfall. For example, Barcelona banked €267 million ($303.7 million) by striking a deal for 10% of their broadcasting rights over the next 25 years in 2022.

The La Liga champions tried to include this revenue to avoid breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, which allow a maximum loss of €200 million ($227.5 million) over three years. However, they were accused of wrongly reporting profits. UEFA judged that these were “profits on disposal of intangible assets” and therefore couldn’t be considered in FFP calculations.

Barcelona were slapped with a €500,000 ($570,000) fine in October after they failed with an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and The Times claim that they have again fallen foul of the economic restrictions. This time Barcelona are expected to face more than just a simple fine.

Barcelona President Joan Laporta insists the club will be active in the summer transfer window. / IMAGO/NurPhoto

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board warned that “a similar breach by the club in the 2023–24 monitoring process would constitute a case of recidivism and would be addressed by the imposition of a harsher disciplinary measure on FC Barcelona.”

The Times report that Barcelona could be faced with restrictions on Champions League squad limits or even an unprecedented points deduction for next season’s league phase.

Chelsea and Aston Villa are also expected to be punished for their own breaches. The Blues found a loophole in the Premier League’s regulations by selling their women’s team to a sister company—a technique which UEFA are not expected to allow.

It’s not yet been revealed what rules Villa have violated. UEFA operate a squad-cost cap which limits the proportion of revenue to be spent on salaries. From 2025–26 onwards, a club’s wage bill cannot account for more than 70% of total earnings—Villa recorded a 91.4% ratio in 2024.

However, as those Premier League clubs are first-time offenders, they are expected to escape with a fine.