Chelsea have been fined £10.75m and hit with a one-year transfer window ban, suspended for two years, over breaching Premier League rules on payments to agents.
The club have also been slapped with a nine-month academy transfer ban after self-reporting their historical breaches of the league’s regulations.
General view of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge
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Chelsea have been handed a transfer ban for breaching Premier League rules on agent paymentsCredit: AFP
Following a pair of disciplinary approaches, the Premier League confirmed on Monday that the Blues had been sanctioned.
It comes after the club had voluntarily self-reported their potential rule breaches.
They were subsequently charged by the Football Association in September.
An independent commission found Chelsea had breached rules relating to financial reporting, third party investment and youth development.
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As well as being fined, the club have been banned from signing academy players for nine months with immediate effect.
The ban does not impact the club's current academy players.
Meanwhile, they have also been handed a one-year ban on signing first-team players, suspended for two years.
The breaches occurred over a decade ago under the club's previous ownership.
Todd Boehly's BlueCo consortium bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in 2022.
talkSPORT previously revealed the club had put forward the argument that they should not be docked points for the breaches.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich looks on from the stands during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City
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The rule breaches took place over 10 years ago during Abramovich's time as ownerCredit: Getty
Chelsea's current owners argued they should instead be fined as Abramovich is no longer at the helm at Stamford Bridge.
The club cooperated fully with the investigation after voluntarily disclosing the potential breaches.
It is understood a number of breaches may not have come to the Premier League's attention had they not done so.
Despite these breaches, Chelsea have not broken the Premier League's PSR rules.
The £10.75m fine is also the biggest ever handed out by the Premier League, breaking the previous record of £5.5m given to West Ham in 2007.
Premier League statement
In a statement confirming the sanctions, the Premier League said: "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.
Chelsea Chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Aston Villa
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Chelsea voluntarily reported the breaches after Boehly's BlueCo group bought the clubCredit: Getty
"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.
General view of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge
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Chelsea have been fined £10.75m and banned from signing academy players for nine monthsCredit: Getty
"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.
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"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)."