Why Chelsea vs Servette is not on TV due to little-known Europa Conference League rule

Chelsea will take on Servette in their Conference League play-off round tie on Thursday – but why is the tie not on TV?

The Blues finished sixth in last season’s Premier League after winning all five of their final games under Mauricio Pochettino.

That would normally have qualified them for the Europa League – and they occupied that status after the final league game of the season.

But Manchester United’s FA Cup win meant Erik ten Hag’s side took the Europa League spot instead.

Chelsea were demoted down into the Conference League – which has dropped the ‘Europa’ part of its name this season to differentiate itself from UEFA’s second-tier competition.

Enzo Maresca’s side have been able to bypass all three qualifying rounds, but do have to win the play-off round in order to progress to the new-look group stage proper.

Their opponents in the play-off round are Swiss side Servette, who finished in third place in the Swiss Super League last season.

But the two-legged game – the first leg of which will take place at Stamford Bridge – will not be shown live on TV.

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The reason for this is, while TNT Sports have the live UK broadcasting rights to Champions League, Europa League and Conference League competitions, they have limited access to the qualifying rounds.

So while eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that Champions League qualifying matches were shown on the channel on Tuesday, there are no televised Europa League or Conference League play-off round matches.

Instead, UEFA allows the clubs involved to sell off their own broadcasting rights for extra revenue.

Chelsea have decided to show the game on their official website, for a fee of £4.99 to watch both legs – the only way for Blues fans to watch their Conference League clash against Servette live in the UK.