Chelsea were fined €31M, Barcelona €15M. Broke down how UEFA's FFP actually works now and what clubs can and can't do under the 2022 overhaul.

UEFA fined 12 clubs in July 2025. Chelsea paid €31 million total (€20M for the football-earnings rule, €11M for the squad-cost rule), with a potential rise above €80M if they miss improvement targets. Barcelona were hit with €15 million, Lyon €12.5 million.

The 2022 overhaul replaced the old break-even system with three pillars. First, no overdue payables - debts past 90 days trigger harsher sanctions. Second, the football-earnings rule allows a baseline €5 million loss, rising to €60 million if the excess is fully covered by equity. Third, the squad-cost rule caps wages, amortisation and agent fees at 70% of revenue from 2025-26 onwards (it was 90% in 2023-24, 80% in 2024-25).

On top of UEFA's framework, La Liga runs its own salary cap (LCPD) based on projected revenue. Each club gets a different ceiling. Real Madrid's sits around €761 million, Barcelona's around €351 million, Atletico's around €336 million. Exceed it and you cannot register players. It is stricter than UEFA's system because it bites immediately.

The interesting case right now is Atletico. Apollo Sports Capital acquired roughly 55% of the club in March 2026 at an enterprise value around €2.5 billion. But that capital does not lift the 70% squad-cost ceiling. The rule ties to revenue, not owner investment. What Apollo can do is fund infrastructure like the Ciudad del Deporte complex around the Metropolitano (total cost around €800M) that grows the revenue base over time, which then raises the permissible spending limit. The answer under FFP is always "earn more" rather than "inject more."

The system is designed to stop spending races funded by owner capital. Whether it succeeds is debatable, but understanding the mechanics helps make sense of why clubs behave the way they do in the market.

I wrote a longer breakdown covering each pillar in detail. If you're interested, you can find it through my profile.