Source : ABC NEWS
Chelsea have been fined a record total of $20.2 million for historical breaches of the Premier League’s regulations.
The club has also been hit with a one-year first-team transfer ban, a two-year suspension, and an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.
In a statement, the Premier League said Chelsea’s current owners voluntarily reported in 2022 that they had evidence of a potential breach of the rules on third-party payments and financial reporting. It said the club also reported a potential breach of Academy rules in 2025.
“The Premier League has concluded two separate disciplinary processes involving Chelsea Football Club, following the club voluntarily self-reporting potential historical breaches of rules,” the league said.
Following an investigation, the Premier League said it had established that, between 2011 and 2018, third parties associated with Chelsea made undisclosed illicit payments to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.
The transfer of Eden Hazard was referenced in the Premier League’s report. (Getty Images: Jamie McDonald)
“These payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities at the time, including the Premier League. The payments were made for the benefit of Chelsea FC and should have been treated as having been made by the club,” the Premier League said.
“The club has also accepted, among other things, that the making of these payments, as well as the failure to disclose them to the League, constituted a breach of the requirement to act in good faith towards the League.”
The Premier League cited a number of players who were transferred into the club in that period, including Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea won the Premier League in 2014-15 and in 2016-17.
During the time period, the London club were still owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. He sold the club in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a consortium led by US investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital taking over in May 2022.
The Premier League said it had also assessed a “series of recalculations of the club’s historical financial submissions” which took into account the payments made for the benefit of Chelsea. It said Chelsea had accepted a 10 million-pound fine.
Chelsea avoided a points deduction after the Premier League found that “in no scenario would the club have breached the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) during the relevant periods”.
“The club’s proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors,” the league said.
In 2023, Everton were immediately deducted 10 points by the Premier League for a PSR breach of less than 20 million pounds. That was reduced to six points on appeal, before a further two points were deducted for another breach in a subsequent reporting period.
Nottingham Forest were deducted four points for a PSR breach of nearly 35 million pounds.
The breaches occured while Roman Abramovich still owned Chelsea. (Reuters: Hannah McKay)
An investigation into breaches of the Premier League’s Youth Development Rules centred around the registration of academy players by a senior club employee, between 2019 and 2022.
Chelsea accepted an immediate nine-month ban in registering Academy players from Premier League and EFL clubs and a 750,000-pound fine.
The sanctions will take effect immediately with the club also paying the full costs of the league’s investigation and disciplinary processes.
“From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators,” Chelsea said in a statement.
The financial sanction is the highest ever imposed by the Premier League. The previous record fine ($10.3 million) was given to West Ham United in 2007.
ABC/Reuters
