Why is Chelsea’s Premier League punishment so lenient? | OneFootball

Chelsea have escaped with a light punishment after admitting to making secret payments to agents and third parties to complete transfer deals between 2011 and 2018.

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The Premier League announced on Monday that they’d concluded two separate disciplinary processes involving Chelsea FC, after the club voluntarily self-reported historical breaches of the rules under previous ownership.

An independent Commission handed Chelsea fines of £10.75m for breaching Premier League rules on Financial Reporting, Third-Party Investment, and Youth Development, as well as giving the club a nine-month academy transfer ban and a suspended one-year first-team transfer ban.

The suspended transfer ban will only become active if Chelsea receive a further punishment for similar breaches over the next two years. In all likelihood, it will never come into effect.

Chelsea will also pay the full costs of the Premier League’s investigation and disciplinary processes.

Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich waves during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridg…

The Premier League note that this is the highest-ever financial sanction they’ve ever imposed on a club, but the punishment still falls a long way short of what any outside observer would view as an effective deterrent.

The academy transfer ban is also limited in scope, as it doesn’t apply to international players, players signing their first professional contract, or players signing their first youth deals at under-nine level.

Effectively, the academy transfer ban will only apply to domestic transfers between ages 10-16, and only for the next nine months. By next January, the ban will be over.

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It’s worth mentioning that Chelsea could still receive further punishment from the FA, who have also handed the club 74 charges.

But that punishment is also likely to be a fine, effectively meaning the team will escape without any form of sporting sanction for the cheating that gave them a sporting advantage.

Dale Johnson notes for the BBC that the secret payments Chelsea made helped them to sign Eden Hazard, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Nemanja Matic, Samuel Eto’o, and Willian, and that Chelsea won two Premier League titles, two FA Cups, the League Cup, and the Europa League during that period.

It’s only because Chelsea cooperated that they’ve been punished so lightly, and also because the secret payments wouldn’t have pushed the club over the PSR limit in any three-season period.

Even so, the club clearly gained an unfair advantage over their rivals, with their cheating now officially confirmed by the Premier League. Cheating that occurred with the knowledge of senior figures over an extended period of time.

The fact Chelsea will just have to pay a fine and delay a few academy transfers almost acts as an incentive to cheat rather than a deterrent. It clearly works and grants you success.