Premier League approve Chelsea selling hotels to themselves in £76.5m deal to stay within PSR

Nothing to see here, just Chelsea getting waved through by the Premier on a £76.5m deal to allow them to stay within PSR limits, a deal which sees them selling two hotels to… themselves.

ESPN revealing (see below) on Wednesday afternoon that this had become the reality.

It could hardly have been timed better.

Only hours after the crass behaviour and incompetence of those running the Premier League had been exposed, when it comes to dealing with the vast majority of clubs, who can’t use such stunts to ‘bend’ the rules.

Tuesday night had seen an embarrassing statement released by the Premier League hierarchy, lashing out at their own independent appeals board for having acknowledged that their (Premier League’s) incompetence in drafting the Premier League PSR had meant Leicester couldn’t be punished for overspending and having excessive losses for the three season PSR period of 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Also in last night’s statement, the Premier League raging at how not punishing Leicester had exposed a massive problem regarding the ‘principle of fairness’…

‘Premier League considers the Appeal Board’s decision fails to take into account the purpose of the rules, all relevant parts of the PSRs and the need for effective enforcement of alleged breaches to ensure fairness among all clubs.

It is of critical importance that the Premier League is able to enforce its rules consistently to maintain the principle of fairness.’

You honestly couldn’t make it up.

Will the Premier League be releasing a similar statement now, saying what a disgrace it is, that the way their rules are drawn up, Chelsea can get away with this? As well as of course everything else they have been allowed to do, which has enabled them to spend a crazy £1.5billion+ on players in just over two years and yet apparently still stay within PSR limitations???

Similarly, Manchester United, are the Premier League going to explain why they were allowed two ‘special allowances’ that kept them inside PSR restrictions?

ESPN report – 4 September 2024:

‘The Premier League have cleared Chelsea’s £76.5 million ($101m) sale of two hotels to a sister company in a deal which aids their compliance with the division’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), sources have told ESPN.

In the club’s accounts for the 2022-23 financial year published in April, it was revealed that the west London club made a loss of £89.9m, but that figure would have been £166.4m had they not sold the Millennium and Copthorne hotels adjacent to Stamford Bridge.

The deal meant the two properties changed ownership from Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd to BlueCo 22 Properties Ltd. Both companies are subsidiaries of Chelsea’s holding company, BlueCo 22 Ltd.

While UEFA and the English Football League bans such sales, the Premier League allows them to take place subject to an assessment of their “fair market value” under the league’s associated-party transaction rules.

ESPN can reveal that according to sources, this process has now been completed and the deals were found to be within an acceptable margin relating to estimates of the hotels’ valuation had they been sold to another bidder.

A source close to Clearlake Capital, the majority owner of Chelsea, told ESPN the club are confident of complying with the rules both in previous seasons and in the 2024-25 accounting period.’