By Peter Omopo
Chelsea Football Club has been handed a one-year transfer ban and fined £10.75 million by the Premier League over secret payments made to unregistered agents and third parties in player transfer deals between 2011 and 2018.
According to reports, the Premier League imposed a £10 million fine on the club for the violations, marking the largest financial penalty ever issued by the league. The sanction surpasses the £5.5 million fine given to West Ham United in 2007 over the controversial signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.
In addition to the main penalty, the league also imposed a £750,000 fine related to irregularities in the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022.
The Premier League investigation revealed that undisclosed payments linked to the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties for Chelsea’s benefit. The report identified several high-profile transfers connected to the payments, including those involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic. However, authorities clarified that there was no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the players involved.
Chelsea accepted the charges, which were linked to activities that occurred during the ownership of former club owner Roman Abramovich.
The Premier League stated that the £10 million fine could have been as high as £20 million but was reduced by half because Chelsea self-reported the breaches and cooperated fully with the investigation.
The club disclosed the potential violations after the consortium led by Todd Boehly completed the acquisition of Chelsea in 2022. In a statement, Chelsea said it treated the matter with utmost seriousness and provided full cooperation to all relevant regulators throughout the investigation.
Despite the breaches, the Premier League noted that Chelsea would not have violated its Profitability and Sustainability rules during the relevant seasons even if the payments had been properly declared. As a result, the league ruled that a points deduction was not necessary.
