Recent revelations about financial misdealings at Chelsea FC have lit a fire under EU plans to make football subject to tough anti-money laundering restrictions.

EU negotiators are locked in a battle over whether to include football clubs, agents and associations under the bloc’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules, which would potentially require major sponsors and even fans to undergo extensive vetting.

Allegations which surfaced this week of complex financial transactions undertaken by ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich have given extra ammunition to those MEPs keen to put football within the rules’ purview.