Chelsea announce they suffered £121m net loss in 2021-22

Chelsea have announced an overall net loss of £121.3 million from 2021-22.

They insist the sanctions placed on former owner Roman Abramovich heavily impacted their finances.

The Russian was placed under sanctions by the UK government a year ago.

It was done in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Subsequently, Chelsea were unable to receive any form of revenue.

They also could not negotiate player, staff or sponsorship contracts until May 30 – when new owners took over.

As a result, extraordinary expenses were accrued and the Blues suffered a huge loss of revenue.

Chelsea were allowed to sell some matchday tickets towards the end of the sanction. However, all the proceeds went to charity.

The Stamford Bridge club believe the effects of those restrictions would linger on into the future and negatively impact their finances.

They also lost £26.6m, a fee a tribunal ordered them to pay Antonio Conte and his staff following their dismissal in 2018.

The sacking of the Italian manager and his staff constituted the most expensive in football history.

Despite the heavy losses, Chelsea insist they are on course to comply with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations.

On the bright side, their turnover figure increased to £481.3m from £434.9m in the previous year.

Chelsea’s commercial revenue also increased to £177.1m.

They benefited from a net increase in sponsorship revenue from new contracts and existing partner renewals.

Chelsea spent £118m on players’ recruitment and made £123.2m selling players, which resulted in a £5.2m profit.

The overall loss is a huge blow and it will be interesting to see how they stay within Financial Fair Play limits.

They have splashed the cash on players upon the arrival of the new owners and could struggle to balance the books going forward.