Chelsea fined £10.75million over secret transfer payments and youth registration breaches | OneFootball

Chelsea have been fined £10.75million for historic financial irregularities during Roman Abramovich’s tenure, plus a nine-month ban on registering new academy players. According to Sunderland Echo, the case centres on undisclosed agent payments and youth registration breaches.

The investigation found £47.5million in unreported fees to agents between 2011 and 2018, approved by former senior staff and directors. The transactions were uncovered during the 2022 takeover, when the incoming owners raised them with the Premier League, the FA and UEFA.

Deals involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic were linked to the payments. There is no suggestion any of those players did anything wrong, and four further players were anonymised in the report.

A financial penalty that could have reached £20million was reduced after the club self-reported and cooperated fully. Part of the sanction is suspended and could be activated if similar breaches occur or if information is later judged intentionally inaccurate.

UEFA had already fined Chelsea £8.64million (€10million) in 2023 for incomplete financial reporting, after identifying large offshore payments omitted from submissions under the previous ownership. Head coach Liam Rosenior said the matter is not a distraction before the Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain, calling it a line drawn that allows the club to plan long term.

Source: Sunderland Echo