Could Uefa have a decision to make between Chelsea and Strasbourg?
[Getty Images] As the battle for places in Europe hots up in the Premier League, the race to shuffle papers to satisfy Uefa's bureaucrats has been just as intense. This is because European football's governing body has strict multi-club ownership (MCO) rules. Those rules could cause a team to be demoted from one competition to another, like Crystal Palace were from the Europa League to the Conference League last season, or miss out on Europe altogether.
Half of the Premier League clubs are now in some form of multi-club arrangement. To many fans, Chelsea and Strasbourg may be the most obvious example of two clubs operating as one entity. They are both under the BlueCo umbrella and if they do end up in the same competition, it will be a serious tests of Uefa's multi-club ownership policy.
On 17 February, four members of the board of BlueCo Alsace, the French club's holding company, stepped down. They were Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, Chelsea's joint-sporting directors. James Pade and Jeffrey Wilbur, noted as Chelsea directors on the Premier League's public register, were also removed.
At UK Companies House, co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali stood down as directors of BlueCo Data Limited on 28 February. They are still on the west London club's board. If the two clubs are permitted into the same competition, and following past precedent, it is likely they would not be allowed to trade players until January 2028.
Strasbourg are eighth in Ligue 1 and have a small chance of qualifying domestically - but if they win the Conference League, they will earn a place in the Europa League. Uefa says that a European titleholder must get European football, but there is no clause to cover this in the MCO regulations. Chelsea are in the FA Cup final - and if they win it, that would also result in Europa League football.