UEFA Executive Committee confirm new Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations

Chelsea exploiting loophole in UEFA has seen the organisation to set new rules

UEFA are set to allow clubs only to sign players only on five-year-contracts.

Chelsea were permitted to amortise the expense of its record-breaking £600 million transfer expenditure over a period of up to eight years before UEFA addressed the loophole.

When Mykhailo Mudryk signed for £88 million on an eight-and-a-half year trade, Mail Sport revealed in January that several of Chelsea's top-flight opponents had charged the club of trying to evade Financial Fair Play requirements by employing amortisation to extend the cost of the transfer fee.

However, UEFA has now made it clear that moving ahead, even if a player has agreed to a lengthier deal, clubs are able to spread a player's payment for transfers over a period of no more than five years.

Long-term agreements previously agreed upon by Chelsea or any other team will not be impacted by the law because they will not be retroactive.

'The amortisation of the player's registry will be restricted to a maximum of five years in order to guarantee equal consideration of all teams and increase financial sustainability,' read a statement on the UEFA website.

''In case of contract extension, the amortisation can be spread over the extended contract period but up to a maximum of five years from the date of the extension."

''Such a change will not restrict the way in which clubs operate (i.e. clubs that are allowed by their national governing bodies to conclude player contracts for a period exceeding five years can continue to do so) and will not apply retroactively to transfer operations that have already taken place.''

Todd Boehly, an American owner, put in place US-style deals that permitted Chelsea to adhere to FFP rules.

FIFA laws already limit contracts to five years, but there are loopholes, which Chelsea took advantage of to postpone a significant portion of their record £600 million in spending over the course of the previous season's two transfer windows.

The new regulation will restrict any club's latitude in upcoming transfer windows.

The authorities have claimed that the modification to UEFA's Club Licencing and Financial Integrity Regulations will take effect on July 1st.