chelsea fc
Chelsea have been given a suspended two-year ban on signing first-team players after breaching financial rules during the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
They have also been fined been fined £10.75 million by the Premier League , and have received an immediate nine-month ban on signing certain academy players. The investigation focused on undisclosed payments made between 2011 and 2018 to agents, unlicensed intermediaries and other parties connected to player transfers.
The payments, which involved offshore companies linked to Abramovich, were not reported to football authorities as required. Some of the deals were connected to transfers involving players such as Samuel Eto’o, Eden Hazard and Willian. Despite the breaches, the Premier League decided not to impose sporting sanctions such as a points deduction. The first-team transfer ban will only take effect if Chelsea commit further violations within the next two years.
The league said the outcome reflected Chelsea’s “exceptional cooperation” and the presence of significant mitigating factors. The violations occurred under the club’s previous ownership and were voluntarily disclosed by BlueCo, the investment group that bought Chelsea in 2022.
The Football Association is still investigating separate allegations involving 74 potential breaches of agent regulations and possible third-party ownership of players.