Thibaut Courtois is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid from Chelsea, and both teams were drawn together in Friday’s Champions League semi-final draw.

The Spanish club recently revealed that they will have to pay Chelsea around £5 million to let Courtois play both legs of the semis, according to the Daily Mail. These were the terms spelt out in the loan agreement at the start of the season.

However, UEFA have now confirmed that Courtois will be able to feature against his old club despite the controversial clause in the loan agreement.

The statement read: “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 be sanctioned accordingly.”

Chelsea have now accepted that Courtois will be able to play against them. Blues chief executive Ron Gourlay responded to UEFA: “The loan was arranged at the start of the season. He could play against Chelsea – that was never in doubt.”

“Regarding the (UEFA) statement that came out, we’ll evaluate it over the next 24 to 48 hours. As far as we’re concerned we complied with loan rules. He can play against Chelsea – if selected.”