Chelsea fined £10m over historic transfer payments | OneFootball

Chelsea have been fined £10 million and handed a suspended transfer ban after admitting to making £47m in undisclosed payments linked to player transfers between 2011 and 2018, BBC Sport has reported.

The punishment, issued by the Premier League, represents the largest financial penalty in the competition’s history, surpassing the £5.5m sanction imposed on West Ham United in 2007 over the controversial registrations of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

The investigation found that “undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties” for Chelsea’s benefit. The payments were connected to several high-profile transfers during the ownership of Roman Abramovich, including deals involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, David Luiz and Nemanja Matić. There is no suggestion that any of the players were involved in wrongdoing.

Although the Premier League considered imposing sporting sanctions, including a points deduction or immediate transfer ban, Chelsea avoided those penalties after voluntarily self-reporting the irregularities following the club’s takeover by a consortium led by Todd Boehly in 2022. Officials confirmed the £10m fine had been reduced from a potential £20m because of the club’s “proactive self-reporting and co-operation”.

Chelsea also received a separate punishment relating to their academy operations: a nine-month ban on registering new academy players, alongside a £750,000 fine for breaches linked to youth recruitment between 2019 and 2022.

In a statement, the club said it had treated the investigation “with the utmost seriousness” and had provided “full cooperation to all relevant regulators”.

Current head coach Liam Rosenior sought to draw a line under the issue, insisting it would not disrupt the team’s focus. “I think actually that’s a line drawn through that issue and we can move on,” he said. “We can plan to make this club as strong as possible in the long term.”

GFN | Finn Entwistle