Chelsea fined £10.75m over historical transfer payments

Chelsea have been fined £10.75 million by the Premier League and handed a one-year transfer ban that will remain suspended for two years following an investigation into undisclosed payments linked to player transfers during the club’s previous ownership.

The sanctions relate to payments allegedly made between 2011 and 2018 under former owner Roman Abramovich.

The financial issues reportedly came to light during the due diligence process that preceded the takeover of the club by its current American ownership group in 2022.

According to the Premier League, the decision of the new owners to report the transactions to football authorities once they discovered them influenced the final punishment.

The league acknowledged Chelsea’s proactive self-reporting and cooperation throughout the investigation.

In addition to the financial penalty and suspended transfer ban, the club has also been handed a nine-month restriction on registering academy players, which takes effect immediately.

The sanction relates to issues connected with youth player registrations between 2019 and 2022.

Investigators found that several seven-figure payments made to offshore companies in connection with player transfers were not included in financial records submitted to football authorities.

Football governing bodies, including the Football Association, the Premier League and UEFA, require clubs to provide accurate financial disclosures every year.

Reacting to the decision, Chelsea said the club accepts the terms of the settlement in full and welcomed the league’s recognition of its cooperation during the investigation.

The club added that it voluntarily disclosed potential historical rule breaches in 2022, including incomplete financial reporting that dated back more than a decade.

Chelsea said it also provided thousands of documents to investigators and cooperated fully with the review process.

Some of the transfers examined during the investigation are believed to involve deals linked to players such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Andreas Christensen.