Chelsea escapes points deduction despite £10.75m Premier League penalty

By Lawrence Agbo

Chelsea F.C. have escaped a points deduction despite being fined £10.75 million by the Premier League over historical financial breaches dating back to the ownership era of Roman Abramovich.

The Premier League confirmed on Monday that the London club would also face a nine-month ban on registering certain academy players after an investigation found breaches related to undisclosed payments made between 2011 and 2018.

According to the league, third parties linked to the club made secret payments to players, unregistered agents and other entities.

These payments were not reported to football authorities at the time, which constituted a breach of regulations and a failure to act in good faith toward the league.

However, the league board ruled out extreme sporting penalties, including a points deduction or an immediate transfer ban on senior players

Instead, Chelsea received a suspended two-year ban on signing first-team players, which will only be activated if further rule breaches occur.

The violations came to light after Chelsea’s current owners, BlueCo, took over the club in 2022 and voluntarily disclosed the historical issues to regulators. The club cooperated extensively with the investigation, providing thousands of documents and additional information.

Some of the deals scrutinised during the investigation included transfers involving former Chelsea stars such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian.

In a statement, Chelsea said it welcomed the conclusion of the case and noted that the Premier League determined the club would not have breached its Profitability and Sustainability Rules even if the payments had been properly reported.

The club added that the nine-month restriction on registering academy players will apply only to certain youth players previously registered with other English clubs, and not to current academy players or international recruits.

Chelsea said it had accepted the settlement in full, describing the matter as a historical issue that has now been resolved