Chelsea hit with record £10.7m fine and suspended transfer ban over secret payments | OneFootball

Chelsea have been handed a suspended one-year transfer ban and a fine exceeding £10 million after a Premier League investigation into historical financial breaches during the ownership of Roman Abramovich.

The punishment follows a disciplinary process examining financial reporting and third-party payments connected to transfers completed more than a decade ago.

Chelsea will not immediately be prevented from signing first-team players because the transfer ban has been suspended for two years.

That suspension means the club can continue registering senior players provided no further breaches of league regulations occur during that period.

No sporting sanctions such as a points deduction have been imposed.

The Premier League confirmed that Chelsea will instead pay a £10 million fine relating to the financial reporting violations.

The club must also pay an additional £750,000 fine in connection with separate breaches of youth development regulations.

Chelsea have also been banned from registering certain academy players for nine months.

The restriction applies specifically to youth players who were previously registered with another Premier League or English Football League academy.

However, the ban does not affect players already registered with Chelsea’s academy.

It also does not apply to international recruits or players signing their first registration at youth level.

The investigation found that between 2011 and 2018 undisclosed payments were made by third parties linked to Chelsea in connection with several player transfers.

Those payments were connected to deals involving players including Eden Hazard, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Nemanja Matic, Willian and Samuel Eto’o.

More than £23 million was paid to agents or associated entities that had not been properly registered with football authorities.

Overall, the investigation identified payments totalling more than £47 million made to multiple individuals or companies connected to those transfers.

Crucially, the Premier League concluded that the undisclosed payments would not have caused Chelsea to breach profitability and sustainability regulations had they been reported correctly.

Chelsea’s current ownership group voluntarily disclosed the issues to the league shortly after purchasing the club in 2022.

The Premier League stated that the club’s self-reporting and cooperation were major factors in reducing the severity of the sanctions.

League officials indicated that without that cooperation Chelsea could have faced a full transfer ban covering two consecutive windows.

Chelsea also confirmed that the club provided extensive documentation and assistance throughout the investigation.

The settlement brings the Premier League process to a close.

However, a separate disciplinary investigation by The Football Association relating to historical payments to agents and intermediaries remains ongoing.

Chelsea had previously faced a transfer ban in 2019 after breaching FIFA rules concerning the signing of under-18 players.

For the club’s current ownership, the conclusion of the latest case removes a regulatory issue that had been hanging over Stamford Bridge for several years.