A general view shows Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London. The club were on Monday hit with a suspended transfer ban over historical breaches of its rules.
Image: Justin Tallis/AFP
Chelsea have been fined £10.75 million and handed a suspended transfer ban after a disciplinary case brought by the Premier League over historical breaches of its rules.
The violations relate to payments connected to player transfers between 2011 and 2018 during the ownership of former owner Roman Abramovich. Investigators found that certain payments involving intermediaries and third parties were not properly disclosed to the league at the time.
An independent commission appointed by the Premier League ruled that the club had breached competition regulations.
“The Board found that Chelsea FC had breached the Premier League Rules requiring clubs to act towards each other and the League with the utmost good faith,” the Premier League said in a statement.
The league added that the payments should have been included in the club’s financial records submitted to the competition.
“The payments should have been disclosed in the club’s financial statements submitted to the Premier League,” the statement said.
As part of the sanction, Chelsea have been given a one-window transfer ban that is suspended for two years and will only take effect if further breaches occur during that period. The club has also received an immediate nine-month restriction on registering academy players who were previously registered with other clubs.
The Premier League said the breaches were uncovered after the club changed ownership in 2022 and that Chelsea had voluntarily reported the irregularities during due diligence.
“The Board recognised Chelsea FC’s proactive and comprehensive self-reporting and the club’s full cooperation with the Premier League investigation,” the league said.
Chelsea said the matters relate to a period before the current ownership and that the club had worked with authorities to resolve them.
“These matters pre-date the club’s current ownership and the club has cooperated fully with the Premier League to bring them to a conclusion,” the club said in a statement.
The £10.75 million fine is the largest financial penalty issued by the Premier League to date.
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