NEW RULES LIKELY TO CURB CHELSEA'S POWER

New rules which could be brought in next season would end the club's ability to buy the biggest stars with ease.

There is growing anger at the unfairness of Chelsea's wealth among football bosses, the game's governing body in Europe Uefa and EU sports ministers.

Their main objection is that Chelsea FC is allowed to run up massive losses as a business while spending hundreds of millions on players because the club is bankrolled by Roman Abramovich.

Sports minister Richard Caborn attended a Brussels meeting which discussed reining in Chelsea. He said: "There is support for the idea of introducing a better relationship between income earned by clubs and the amounts spent."

Since Mr Abramovich took over the club has spent £276 million on players and made losses of £228 million.

Ministers believe they can act against clubs because the massive losses run up by the biggest spenders - especially Chelsea - are effectively subsidies which are subject to normal company laws.

They say any other industry handed the same kind of subsidies as some football clubs would face investigations from the European bodies which regulate competition.

There is growing support across Europe for a new licensing system which would limit how much a club could spend on players and salaries. The exact spending limits have yet to be finalised but they are likely to be a ratio of a club's turnover or profit.