Chelsea to miss out in £912.4m UCL prize money

After singing a five years contract in August to stay at Stamford Bridge until 2019, Chelsea have sacked manager Jose Mourinho seven months after he led the Blues to Premier League title.

The 52-year-old Portuguese had been in his second spell at the club, taking charge in June 2013.

Chelsea finished eight points clear last season and won the League Cup, but have lost nine of their 16 premier league games so far and are sit 16th in the table, one point above the relegation zone. Mourinho who earned £8.5 million a year, which include a pay-rise based on his performance.

The Blues have cut their Premier League losses on the Portuguese boss after losing their ninth match of the season on Monday at Leicester.

Premier League Financial Implications

Last season, Chelsea earned a whooping £99million in total prize money from Premier League title success – the most ever earned by a single club in one season from central funds.

The Premier League title holder is at the verge of losing close to an eye-watering sum of over £98,999,554, made up of (£24.9m) merit cash for finishing top of the table, (£19.98m) facility fees for being in so many live TV games, plus equal shares of the domestic TV deal of (£22m), overseas TV deals (£27.8m) and commercial income from the leagues sponsors, such as Barclays (£4.4m) considering their current form and standings on the table, the hope of earning big cash this season is becoming a mirage for the London side.

UEFA Champions League Financial Implications

About two months back, the Ex-Chelsea boss admitted that he couldn’t guarantee the club will play in the Champions League next season. And the financial consequences for Chelsea not playing in Europe biggest club competition are huge. Reports revealed that sacking Jose Mourinho would cost Chelsea about (£40m), but what the club stands to lose is far more than the (£40m) paid as compensation for the coach.

Chelsea are likely to miss out in UEFA Champions League, most highest prize money paying competition in the world for next season and will be losing an estimated €12 million as participation bonus, €5.5 million for knockout bonus. Champions League’s total prize money pool is around €1.257 billion according to 2015/16 prize money that could be increased for next season.

Champions League’s total prize money pool is around €1.257 billion for the 2015-16 season from which UEFA pays all the 32 participating clubs and the ones who get knockout in the champions league qualifying rounds. The winner of competition can take away anywhere around €50 to €55 million (performance based) plus there is massive increase “Market Pool” from UEFA Tv income. Which is distributed according to proportional value of each TV market.

Chelsea also stand in losing lots of lucrative endorsement deals from TV rights among BT Sports, SkySports and income stream from corporate partners for not playing in Europe.

Fellow English side Manchester United recently reported revenue dropped by almost £40 million and they made loss of £1.2m in the last year financial result a cost of missing out on the UEFA Champions League.

Before his sack, the former Real Madrid boss was sanctioned £50,000 fine by FA for misconduct and suspended one-game stadium ban.

Many Chelsea fans have expressed their sadness over the decision of owner Roman Abramovich and the board to axe the man they considered as the most successful manager in the club history.

But looking at football as a business, it’s in the best interest of the club to let Mourinho go after losing the confidence of his players. Mourinho blamed his players following Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Leicester City, saying they did not follow the plan he worked for days to formulate ahead of the crucial clash.

As Chelsea players await the appointment of new manger, it is now up to the players to prove the Portuguese wrong or right, as the results from their next matches will tell.

 

Anthony Nlebem