Bad news for Chelsea. According to some media reports, the London football club, which will host PSG on Tuesday, March 17 in the Champions League round of 16 (with PSG winning 5-2 in the first leg), has been heavily sanctioned by English football authorities for past financial irregularities.
The events in question date back to the period from 2011 to 2018 when the club was still owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
During his tenure at the club, Abramovich allegedly failed to declare certain payments made by third parties related to the club in transfer deals, which were deemed violations of regulations.
The Premier League also stated that Chelsea “specifically acknowledged that the payments, as well as the failure to declare them to the League, constituted a breach of the obligation to act in good faith towards the League.”
As a result, the club was fined £10.75 million, approximately €12.4 million.
Chelsea also received an immediate ban of nine months for recruitment related to its Academy and training center, and a suspended transfer ban for the first team lasting one year. This penalty will only be enforced if Chelsea commits further similar infractions during this two-year suspension period.
The club escaped an immediate and effective ban as well as a point deduction in the Premier League but accepted these sanctions.
Since taking ownership of the club in 2022 following Abramovich’s departure (due to the war in Ukraine), the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium has acknowledged the infractions, which helped mitigate the severity of the punishment.
Further proceedings are ongoing regarding past practices of the English club.
