FOOTBALL – CHELSEA have been fined a record total of £10.75 million ($14.28m) for breaches of the Premier League’s rules relating to financial reporting, third-party investment and youth development, the league said yesterday.
The club has also been hit with a one-year first team transfer ban, suspended for two years, as well as 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.
“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.
After an investigation, the Premier League said it had established that between 2011 and 2018, undisclosed payments by third parties associated with Chelsea were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.
“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.”
During the time period, the London club was 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.
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