Chelsea have been hit with a huge fine and transfer ban after breaching the Premier League rules
Chelsea have been hit with a transfer ban and fined.
Chelsea have been hit with an academy transfer ban and slapped with a huge fine after historical breaches relating to Financial Reporting and Third Party Investment. In 2022 the club’s new owners, BlueCo, a consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, self reported to the Premier League after buying the club from Roman Abramovich.
The current owners suspected the club had breached Premier League Rules and got in touch with the Premier League. Chelsea have been found guilty of making undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club, to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.
A statement from the Premier League says these payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities, or the Premier League. As a result, Chelsea have accepted a £10million fine – the biggest in Premier League history – and a one-year first team transfer ban which has been suspended for two years.
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The club have also been handed an immediate nine-month ban from registering Academy players from Premier League and EFL clubs and will pay a £750,000, following an additional investigation.
The academy ban is for players in all age groups above the initial Under-9s level, but is limited to only players at other Premier League or EFL clubs and does not apply to contract renewals or overseas players.
A Premier League statement read: “The Premier League has completed a disciplinary process with Chelsea FC in respect of historical breaches relating to Financial Reporting and Third Party Investment. In 2022, Chelsea FC’s current owners voluntarily reported to the League that they had evidence of potential breaches of Premier League Rules.
“As a result of the Premier League’s investigation, it was established that between 2011 and 2018, undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties. These payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities at the time, including the Premier League.
“The payments were made for the benefit of Chelsea FC and should have been treated as having been made by the club. The club has also accepted, among other things, that the making of these payments, as well as the failure to disclose them to the League, constituted a breach of the requirement to act in good faith towards the League.
“The Premier League assessed a series of recalculations of the club’s historical financial submissions which took into account the payments made for the benefit of Chelsea FC. Importantly, having undertaken that assessment, the Premier League Board was satisfied that in no scenario would the club have breached the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules during the relevant periods, had the relevant payments been properly included in the club’s historical financial submissions.
“When considering the appropriate sanction, the Premier League Board noted that the club’s proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors.
“The Premier League and Chelsea FC have now entered into a sanction agreement under which the club accepts a £10 million fine and a suspended one-year first team transfer ban (suspended for two years).
“In addition, the League also investigated potential breaches of the Premier League’s Youth Development Rules, committed by a former senior employee, relating to the club’s registration of Academy players between 2019 and 2022. This followed a further voluntary report by the club in 2025.
“As a result of this additional investigation, a separate sanction agreement has been entered into with Chelsea FC, under which the club has accepted an immediate nine-month ban from registering Academy players from Premier League and EFL clubs. The club will also pay a £750,000 fine.
“All sanctions will take effect immediately with the club also paying the full costs of the League’s investigation and disciplinary processes. In accordance with Premier League Rules, the sanction agreements with the club have been reviewed and approved by three members of the League’s independent Judicial Panel.
“A separate FA disciplinary process involving the club’s alleged breaches of FA Regulations arising out of similar conduct remains ongoing. In 2022, Chelsea FC also reported to UEFA the historic breaches which resulted in the CFCB First Chamber entering into a settlement agreement with the club. Chelsea FC paid a financial contribution of €10 million (£8.6 million).”
Former owner Abramovich was in control of the club from 2003 to 2022, before selling to the current owners for £4.25bn in 2022. The current owners discovered the “incomplete financial reporting” when carrying out due dilligence on buying the club and the club have already been fined by Uefa for “submitting incomplete financial information back in 2023.
It has been previously reported by the BBC, the transfers of Eden Hazard from Lille, and Willian and Samuel Eto’o from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala were at the heart of the investigation.
The club have since released their own statement saying it is “pleased to confirm that the club has reached a settlement with the Premier League in relation to historical regulatory matters.”
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It added: “The club wishes to make clear that following robust financial analysis by the Premier League, it was concluded that ‘in no scenario would the club have exceeded the maximum allowable loss of £105 million over the three-year assessment period in the Rules.’
“Accordingly there is no scenario in which the club could have been in breach of the applicable limits in the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules during the applicable seasons historically.
“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 cooperation‘ 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.’
“The club accepts the terms of the settlement in full, details of which have been published on the Premier League website. For clarity, the nine-month restriction on registering Academy players applies immediately, but only to Academy players who have previously been registered with another League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months.
“It does not apply to current Chelsea players, international players or players who are applying for their first registration at Under 9. We are pleased that the matter is now concluded.”
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