Chelsea football club 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 “accept 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 commit new offences of a similar nature or the Premier League has reason to suspect the Club Declaration was “intentionally untrue” or “misstated”.
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 for 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.
