UEFA Thibaut Courtois Can Play Against Chelsea

UEFA has ruled that Atletico Madrid will not have to pay Chelsea a hefty fee to play Thibaut Courtois in the Champions League semi-finals should the two clubs be drawn together.

Following claims from Atletico president Enrique Cerezo that the La Liga side would be forced to pay a fee of £4.95 million per match to field the stopper in the last-four - if Atletico are drawn against Jose Mourinho’s Blues - UEFA have released a statement to say that Chelsea can enforce no such a provision.

The statement on the UEFA website read: “In response to media reports referring to the situation of Club Atlético de Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, UEFA would like to reiterate its position.


“The integrity of sporting competition is a fundamental principle for UEFA.
“Both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations contain clear provisions which strictly forbid any club to exert, or attempt to exert, any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match.
“It follows that any provision in a private contract between clubs which might function in such a way as to influence who a club fields in a match is null, void and unenforceable so far as UEFA is concerned.
“Furthermore, any attempt to enforce such a provision would be a clear violation of both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations and would therefore be sanctioned accordingly.”