Chelsea currently sit in sixth place on the English Premier League table, a whopping 22 points behind Arsenal, who lead with 70 points.
The latest development could make it at least slightly more difficult for Chelsea to win its first Premier League title since the 2016-17 season.
News broke on Monday morning that the Premier League handed Chelsea a fine and a transfer ban “relating to breaches of financial rules during Roman Abramovich’s time as owner,” as reported by The Athletic‘s David Ornstein and Liam Twomey. Chelsea padded its trophy cabinet throughout Abramovich’s ownership.
Chelsea is banned from signing first-team players for one year and from signing academy players for nine months. The fine is around $14 million. The Athletic reported the fine as £10 million and $13.7 million, while ESPN has the figure at £10.75 million and $14 million. Either way, not ideal.
“The ban is suspended over two years, meaning that Chelsea will still be able to register senior players if they do not commit any further breaches,” Ornstein and Twomey wrote. “No sporting sanction, such as a points deduction, has been imposed.”
According to ESPN, the sanctions stem from “information shared with the league by a consortium featuring American businessman Todd Boehly following the consortium’s takeover of the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2022.” Chelsea also risked receiving a points reduction, but the Premier League decided against it after the club admitted to breaching EPL rules and cooperated with the investigation.
Ornstein and Twomey reported that the settlement agreement between Chelsea and the Premier League disclosed that “the fine would have been £20 million and the ban for two windows” if Chelsea hadn’t self-reported.
“The agreement outlines that between 2011 and 2018, Chelsea paid more than £23 million to seven unregistered agents ‘or entities associated with them’ in connection with the transfer and registration of seven players, including Eden Hazard, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic,” The Athletic report reads. “A total of £47,524,925.74 was paid to 12 individuals or corporate entities, ‘each of which implicated one or more of the rules’ during that time.”
Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea in 2003, and the U.K. government forced Abramovich to sell the club. Abramovich was sanctioned by the U.K. government due to “his ties with” Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to ESPN’s James Olley in March 2022. The $3.2 billion sale to a group led by Todd Boehly was completed in May 2022.
An Abramovich-sized cloud has lingered over Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea is “pleased that the matter is now concluded.”
Chelsea released a lengthy statement in response to the settlement, which can be read in full here.
