Chelsea avoid points deduction after self-reporting historic financial breaches

By Jamie Gardner, Press Association Chief Sports Reporter

Chelsea have avoided a points deduction after admitting to breaching Premier League rules in relation to more than £47million of undisclosed payments made under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.

Payments were made from third party entities, which the Premier League said were “controlled by or associated with” Abramovich to unlicensed agents and individuals connected to selling clubs, which helped to facilitate transfers for players including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian.

These payments, which the league said were made with the “knowledge and approval” of senior former Chelsea officials, were not properly disclosed.

Chelsea have been given a one-year transfer ban, suspended for two years, and fined a total of £10.75 million as part of a sanction agreement with the league.

The league’s board accepted that had the new owners not proactively reported their concerns upon completing their takeover in 2022, the breaches would potentially never have been discovered.

That, combined with Chelsea’s “exceptional co-operation” and the fact the payments would not have put the club in breach of profitability and sustainability rules if they had been properly accounted for at the time, meant a points penalty was not deemed appropriate. Chelsea shared more than 200,000 documents with the Premier League.

The sanction agreement detailed the fact that the payments – which totalled £47,524,925.74 and occurred between 2011 and 2018 – were made with the “knowledge and approval” of senior officers and/or directors formerly with the club.

The league’s board was satisfied that no current employee was involved in, or knew about, the payments.

No less than 36 payments were made to 12 individuals or entities on behalf of the club, the league found.

More than £23 million was paid to seven unregistered agents, or entities associated with them, in connection with the transfers of seven players to the club. Five of the seven were named in the sanction agreement as Hazard, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.

Payments of over £19m were made to facilitate the transfers of Willian and Eto’o to Chelsea from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013, the sanction agreement revealed.

Chelsea were also given an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban as part of the sanction agreement.

The information shared with the authorities by Chelsea separately led to them being charged with 74 breaches of Football Association rules last September.

Chelsea are expecting a financial rather than a sporting sanction in respect of those charges, again because of the level of co-operation their new owners have shown with the FA’s investigation.

European football’s governing body UEFA also entered into a settlement agreement with the club in relation to the 2022 disclosures by the new owners, with Chelsea making a contribution of 10.6 million euro (£9.2m).

In relation to Monday’s sanction agreement, the club said they had “voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago”.

A club statement added: “During an extensive Premier League investigation, the club proactively disclosed many thousands of documents. Also, when requests for information were made by the Premier League, the club promptly provided comprehensive responses and facilitated all lines of inquiry to support a complex and extremely thorough process.

“Furthermore, during the investigation, additional evidence was provided to the club by a third party regarding potential breaches of Premier League rules committed by a former employee in a small number of historical academy transactions. This information was immediately and proactively self-reported to the Premier League.

“From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.

“The club welcomes the recognition from the Premier League of its ‘exceptional co-operation’ and that ‘without those voluntary disclosures and the act of self-reporting, a number of the Premier League rule breaches may never have come to the attention of the League’.”

Lawyers acting for Abramovich, who was forced to sell Chelsea in 2022 after he was sanctioned by the British Government, have been contacted for comment.