The Premier League has been investigating secret payments that were made by Chelsea between 2011 and 2018 when Roman Abramovich owned the London club; the transactions came to light during the due diligence process when the new American owners bought the club in 2022
Chelsea have been handed the Premier League’s biggest fine, along with a one-year transfer ban suspended for two years.
The total fine of £10.75m relates to secret payments made to agents worth £47.5m between 2011 and 2018, when Roman Abramovich was the owner, and breaches of rules around registering youth players.
The investigation determined these payments “occurred with the knowledge and approval” of former senior employees and/or directors, the sanction agreement shows.
The transactions came to light during the due diligence process when the new American owners bought the club in 2022. They self-reported the irregularities to the Premier League, the FA and UEFA.
Chelsea have also been given a nine-month academy transfer ban, imposed with immediate effect, relating to offences between 2019 and 2022
The Premier League said Chelsea’s “proactive self-reporting” and “exceptional co-operation” throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors when mulling over potential sanctions.
Chelsea “accepted the terms of the settlement in full” and welcomed the Premier League’s acknowledgment of their help in the investigation.
The suspended sentence could become active if Chelsea commits new offences of a similar nature or the Premier League has reason to suspect the Club Declaration was “intentionally untrue” or “misstated”.
Although they happened long before his tenure, current Blues boss Liam Rosenior is pleased to draw a line under the issue.
Ahead of facing PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday, he said: “It’s not a negative distraction. Actually, that’s a line drawn through that issue and we can move on and plan to make this club as strong as possible in the long-term. That’s the idea from the ownership, myself, and everybody involved in the club.”
Chelsea were fined £8.64m [€10m] by UEFA in July 2023 for incomplete financial reporting by the previous owners in 2018 and 2019.
At least six suspect payments to offshore companies connected to transfers were identified.
The seven-figure payments were not in accounts that the club submitted to the football authorities at the time.
The transfers investigated are believed to include the moves of Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, and Andreas Christiansen.
Clubs have to provide the FA and Premier League with accurate financial information every year. The same applies to UEFA and clubs playing in their competitions.
UEFA’s five-year statute of limitations means they could only investigate breaches going back to 2017/18. The Premier League does not have a statute of limitations.
“This is all to do with payments that were made off the books to people connected with transfers under Chelsea’s previous ownership.
“The seven-figure payments were not in the accounts the club submitted to the football authorities at the time.
“All clubs have to provide the FA and Premier League with accurate financial information each year, and UEFA if they are playing in their competitions.
“If Chelsea’s previous owners were making these secret payments off the books, the financial information they were supplying was not complete.
“Chelsea will still be able to sign players in the summer and next winter window – as long as they don’t do anything wrong.
“I think the reason this ban is suspended is that these irregularities were self-reported by the club’s new owners.”
