Chelsea facing Premier League scrutiny over £76.3m hotel sales

Chelsea is getting a lot of attention for a big money move involving two hotels at Stamford Bridge. The owners sold them for a whopping £76.3 million to another company they own.

In their recent financial reports, Chelsea showed that they moved the Millennium and Copthorne Hotels from one of their companies, Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd, to another one called Blueco 22 Properties Ltd. Both of these are under Chelsea’s bigger company, Blueco 22 Ltd.

These hotel sales seem to be a strategy to help Chelsea stick to the Premier League’s rules about making a profit and being financially sustainable.

Last season, Chelsea reported a big loss of £90.1 million. The season before that, it was even higher at £121.4 million. According to the Premier League, clubs can’t lose more than £105 million over three years.

By selling the hotels, Chelsea could count the whole £76.3 million as income for last season. The Premier League said this was okay, but Chelsea’s accounts, which were shared with Companies House and the public, mention that the deal hasn’t been officially checked to see if it’s a fair price according to Premier League rules.

If the Premier League decides the hotels were worth less than £76.3 million, it could cause problems for Chelsea under the league’s financial rules. Chelsea is already near the limit of £105 million in losses over three years.

According to Chelsea’s financial documents, the club directors got opinions from two top property experts about the hotels’ value, and they think it’s fair.

Both the Premier League and Chelsea didn’t confirm if they’ve finished checking if the hotel deal is fair since the financial documents were finalized in December.

One of Chelsea’s co-owners, Todd Boehly, mentioned in the documents that Chelsea expects to follow the Premier League’s financial rules “in the near future.”