Chelsea’s US-based owners are preparing for a situation in which the Blues qualify for the same European competition as French sister club Strasbourg.
Uefa, European football’s governing body, has strict rules regarding multi-club ownership models and it has forced BlueCo, the parent company of both Chelsea and Strasbourg, into a change to allow both clubs a chance of playing Champions League football next season – should they qualify.
Strasbourg are currently sixth in Ligue 1 and will likely need to win their last two matches to secure a third-placed finish to qualify for the Champions League, ahead of the likes of Monaco, Nice, Lille and Lyon.
Chelsea’s owners have been in conversation with Uefa since January about setting up a structure that is compliant. Strasbourg are expected to move into a ‘blind’ trust, while removing any conflicts like board members or staff working across the two clubs.
The two established ways round Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules are to either reduce a stake in one of them – as Brighton owner Tony Bloom did with his Belgian outfit Union-Saint Gilloise – or put one of them into a blind trust so an individual cannot exert influence over two clubs.
In a similar situation to BlueCo, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has diluted his control of the club in preparation for possible Champions League qualification, with Olympiakos set to qualify for the competition by winning the Greek league.
Legally, Marinakis has ceased to become a “person with significant control” of the company that owns Forest.
Marinakis maintains his commitment to Forest, as do Chelsea’s owners towards Strasbourg, after substantial off-field and on-field investment since their £64m takeover in 2023.
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his two other Ineos-owned clubs Nice and Lausanne-Sport into this structure and City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, also moved Girona into a blind trust.
Strasbourg are led by English manager Liam Rosenior and are unbeaten since the March international break, including beating champions PSG last week, with their final two matches against relegation threatened Angers and Le Havre.
Strasbourg could achieve their highest league finish since 1979 with the youngest squad in Europe’s top five leagues.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are fifth in the Premier League with three games against Newcastle, Manchester United and Forest remaining.
If both clubs fall short of qualifying for the Champions League, they could both end up in the Europa League.
Uefa would also bar Chelsea and Strasbourg from making transfers of any kind between the two clubs should they end up in the same competition.