Chelsea faced penalties after the Premier League investigated financial irregularities from the Roman Abramovich era. The club accepted a settlement that included a substantial fine and transfer restrictions.
The Premier League fined Chelsea 10.75 million pounds on Monday. In addition, officials handed the club a suspended one-year ban from signing first-team players.
This ban remains suspended for two years. Moreover, Chelsea received an immediate nine-month prohibition on registering academy players from rival clubs.
Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea owner, presided over the period when the breaches took place between 2011 and 2018. Undisclosed payments went to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.
The Premier League established that these payments benefited the club and required disclosure. Meanwhile Chelsea breached rules on good faith.
The Premier League declared in its statement that the payments were not reported to regulatory authorities at the time. The club also accepted that the failure to disclose them constituted a breach of the requirement to act in good faith toward the league.
Todd Boehly, the American businessman who leads the current ownership consortium, oversaw the takeover from Abramovich in May 2022. The new owners self-reported the potential breaches shortly afterward. Following the report, Chelsea provided exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation.
Chelsea Football Club stated: “Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that the club has reached a settlement with the Premier League in relation to historical regulatory matters that were self-reported by the club in 2022. From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.”
A separate probe covered youth development rules from 2019 to 2022. This led to the academy ban and part of the fine. The sanctions avoided any points deduction. The first-team breaches did not affect compliance with profitability and sustainability rules.
