Chelsea lin trouble again, fined £10.75m for historical financial breaches

Chelsea were fined £10.75 million ($14.27 million) and received a suspended one-year transfer ban on Monday in relation to historical breaches of Premier League rules.

The Blues avoided a points deduction after self-reporting the undisclosed payments of more than £47 million under former owner Roman Abramovich.

The sanctions relate to information shared with the league by the consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly following their takeover of Chelsea from Russian billionaire Abramovich in 2022.

The Premier League found that between 2011 and 2018 undisclosed payments by third parties associated with Abramovich were made to players, unregistered agents and individuals connected to clubs, helping to facilitate transfers for players including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o and Willian.

The Premier League said those payments, which totalled £47,524,925.74, were made with the "knowledge and approval" of senior former Chelsea officials and were not properly disclosed.

However, the league determined that even if the payments had been properly included in historical financial submissions, the club would not have been in breach of the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

Officials said that Chelsea's "proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional co-operation" were also mitigating circumstances when it came to deciding the severity of the punishments to be imposed upon the west London side.

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 £19 million 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 have also been charged by the Football Association with 74 alleged breaches of the English governing body's rules, also in connection to the information shared by the Blues' new owners.

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

Responding to Monday's announcement, the club issued a statement saying: "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."

The Blues also said they welcomed the Premier League's recognition 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".

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior said the sanctions were not a "negative distraction".

"I think actually that's a line drawn through that issue and we can move on and we can plan to make this club as strong as possible in the long term," he said at a press conference ahead of Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.