By dixon9
February 7 2008

Chelsea Football Club today announced the squad for the next phase of the Champions League on the official web site. Due to UEFA rules we could only name 23 of the max 25 permitted meaning Pizarro and Sidwell have been removed and Anelka and Ballack added. Devastating news for Pizarro and Sidwell.

New signing Ivanovic also cannot be named as UEFA rules state that only one player who has played in the UEFA Cup and later transferred can play in the Champions League – This meant Chelsea had to choose between Anelka and Ivanovic. 

Scott Sinclair also doesn’t qualify because the period he was on loan to Plymouth and later QPR doesn’t count as time at the club! Stupid rule which favours the Spanish teams who have reserve teams playing in the lower divisions of the Spanish League. 

The lists are as follows: 

A List

1 CECH, Petr

3 COLE, Ashley

4 MAKELELE, Claude

5 ESSIEN, Michael

6 CARVALHO, Ricardo

7 SHEVCHENKO, Andriy

8 LAMPARD, Frank

10 COLE, Joe

11 DROGBA, Didier

12 MIKEL, John Obi

13 BALLACK, Michael

15 MALOUDA, Florent

18 BRIDGE, Wayne

20 FERREIRA, Paulo

21 KALOU, Salomon

22 BEN HAIM, Tal

23 CUDICINI, Carlo

24 WRIGHT-PHILLIPS, Shaun

26 TERRY, John

33 ALEX

35 BELLETTI, Juliano

39 ANELKA, Nicolas

40 HILARIO, Henrique 

B List

41 HUTCHINSON, Sam

42 SAWYER, Lee 

Grant: 'I am not happy with this, the squad should be all the team together. It is a hard decision to take two players out, but it is always like this and we need to choose, so I'm very disappointed from this rule, that I cannot take all the team together. 

'But, this is the rule and I need to respect it, so the players that are not in the list are very good players and have done a very good job. I am sure they still will, but in the Champions League because of the lists I needed to choose.'

The club web site then went on to explain the UEFA regulations: 

Under the regulations on player eligibility for the Champions League, no club may have more than 25 players on List A during the season.

Six places on List A are reserved for 'locally trained players'. A 'locally trained player' is either a 'club-trained player' or an 'association-trained player' and no club may have more than three 'association-trained players' listed among the six. 

A 'club-trained player' is a player who - irrespective of his nationality and age - has been registered with his current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months between the age of 15 and 21. 

An 'association-trained player' is a player who - irrespective of his nationality and age - has been registered with a club or with other clubs affiliated to the same national association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months between the age of 15 and 21. 

Each club is entitled to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season. 

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 1986 and has been eligible to play for the club for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday. 

Scott Sinclair does not qualify as a club-trained player having not spent three seasons at Chelsea. He is not on List A. His loan to Plymouth last season, as well as his QPR spell this campaign makes him ineligible for List B. 

Branislav Ivanovic does not qualify to play having already played in UEFA competition for Lokomotiv Moscow this season.

Laws stipulate we may name one player who has already played in the UEFA Cup, which is Nicolas Anelka, but none who have played in the Champions League.