Chelsea hit with huge fine and academy transfer ban after Premier League investigation | OneFootball

Blues receive biggest-ever fine handed down by Premier League, as well as suspended one-year ban on first-team signings

It was found that Chelsea made illicit payments to players, unregistered agents and other third parties between 2011 and 2018.

Chelsea have avoided first-team sporting sanctions, with a one-year first-team player transfer ban being suspended for two years.

New Chelsea owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly self-reported the breaches when discovering them during their takeover process in 2022.

Chelsea have accepted the biggest-ever fine handed out by the Premier League and a nine-month ban on signing academy players from Premier League and EFL clubs.

There is still a Football Association (FA) investigation hanging over Chelsea relating to 74 alleged rule breaches over payments to agents between 2009 and 2022 under Abramovich.

A Premier League statement said: “As a result of the Premier League’s investigation, it was established that between 2011 and 2018, undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties. These payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities at the time, including the Premier League.

“The payments were made for the benefit of Chelsea FC and should have been treated as having been made by the club.

“The club has also accepted, among other things, that the making of these payments, as well as the failure to disclose them to the League, constituted a breach of the requirement to act in good faith towards the League.”

The Premier League were satisfied that in no scenario would Chelsea have breached Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) during the relevant periods, had the relevant payments been properly included in the club’s historical financial submissions.

Chelsea said they were “pleased” to have reached a settlement with the Premier League.

Their statement read: “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.

“As previously announced, the club voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago.

“The club accepts the terms of the settlement in full, details of which have been published on the Premier League website.

“For clarity, the nine-month restriction on registering Academy players applies immediately, but only to Academy players who have previously been registered with another League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months.

“It does not apply to current Chelsea players, international players or players who are applying for their first registration at Under 9. We are pleased that the matter is now concluded.”