Chelsea and Strasbourg, both owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, are proactively preparing to comply with UEFA’s rules if both clubs secure spots in the same European tournament next season.
Insiders reveal that Strasbourg would be placed in a ‘blind trust’ to ensure separation from Chelsea, tackling any potential conflicts of interest, such as shared board members across the two teams.
This arrangement must be approved by UEFA, which previously moved Crystal Palace to the Conference League despite their Europa League qualification, due to their shared ownership links with Lyon, violating multi-club ownership regulations.
Chelsea is currently battling to qualify for the Champions League but might find themselves in the Europa League or Conference League. They are also in the FA Cup semi-finals, with victory ensuring a Europa League berth.
Meanwhile, Strasbourg sits in eighth place in Ligue 1 and is competing in the semi-finals of both the Coupe de France and the Conference League. Winning either would also secure them a Europa League spot.
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According to UEFA rules, if a team is disqualified from a European competition for non-compliance, the penalty is applied to the club that finishes lower in their national league.
Strasbourg booked their place in the Conference League semi-finals on Thursday night, with the Ligue 1 side beating Mainz 4-2 on aggregate.
Gary O’Neil’s team will meet Rayo Vallecano in the last four, with the winners taking on either Crystal Palace or Shakhtar Donetsk in the final in Leipzig next month.
If Strasbourg were to win the Conference League and Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League, both clubs would qualify for next season’s Europa League.
UEFA does not permit two clubs within an ownership group to play in the same European competition, with the governing body warning clubs in December they were at risk of being thrown out.
Under UEFA rules, the club that finished lower in their domestic league would drop out of competition. This played out this season when Crystal Palace were demoted to the Conference League, while Lyon kept their Europa League berth.
Strasbourg are currently eighth in Ligue 1, while Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League.
Following this week’s European ties, it remains possible for 10 English clubs to book their place in continental competitions next season.
Previously as many as 11 could have had players reaching for their passports, but that prospect ended with Liverpool’s elimination from the Champions League.
In that scenario, the Reds would have to have finished outside the Premier League’s European spots, but secured a berth in next year’s competition by lifting the trophy in Budapest.
Liverpool are now dependent on their final league position to qualify after losing to Paris Saint-Germain.
After the Premier League secured one of UEFA’s two European Performance Spots for the second season in a row, five teams from the top flight are guaranteed to be competing in next season’s Champions League.
Strasbourg booked their place in the Conference League semi-finals on Thursday night
Nottingham Forest can qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League
Winning the Conference League would see Crystal Palace qualify for the Europa League
Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Aston Villa and Liverpool would clinch those spots as it stands.
Chelsea are on course for the Europa League and seventh-place Brentford are in the Conference League spot.
An eighth European spot is already confirmed, with Europa League qualification on offer for the winner of the FA Cup.
Leeds and Southampton would qualify if either team triumphs at Wembley, while a Man City win would mean the club seventh in the Premier League would receive the Europa League spot, with the eighth qualifying for the Conference League.
The same situation would play out if Chelsea secure a top-six finish in the Premier League, and win the FA Cup.
The fortunes of Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace will be crucial to determining whether there are 10 English clubs in Europe.
Forest can secure Champions League qualification should they win the Europa League, as Tottenham did last season.
This would mean six English clubs would qualify for Europe’s elite club competition. The same would be true if Aston Villa were to win the Europa League, while also finishing outside the top six in the league.
If either of those scenarios occur, Crystal Palace could then make it 10 clubs in Europe should they win the Conference League to secure a Europa League spot for next season.
