Chelsea have been fined £10 million by the Football Association (FA) and handed a suspended ban on registering new players for two transfer windows after admitting breaches relating to payments to agents and third parties during the club’s previous ownership.
The breaches occurred between 2009 and 2022, with Chelsea admitting that £47 million in secret payments were made to unregistered agents and third parties in connection with transfers between 2011 and 2018.
However, the club have avoided a six-point deduction after the proposed punishment was set aside on appeal. The points deduction had initially been suspended until 30 June 2027.
Chelsea’s current owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, self-reported 74 breaches of FA regulations after completing their takeover of the club in 2022.
The FA said it would continue investigating individual misconduct arising from the case.
The initial fine imposed on Chelsea was £26 million, but this was reduced to £17.25 million after the club voluntarily reported the breaches and co-operated extensively with investigators.
The regulatory commission described Chelsea’s co-operation as “exceptional and unprecedented” and considered it a mitigating factor.
The fine was subsequently reduced further following Chelsea’s early guilty plea and was eventually set at £10 million after taking into account penalties already imposed on the club by UEFA and the Premier League.
The FA said the punishment was appropriate to penalise Chelsea, deter similar misconduct and protect the integrity of football.
The £10 million fine will be invested into grassroots football.
The regulatory commission also noted that the breaches were unlikely to have been discovered had Chelsea not reported them to the FA.
Chelsea welcomed the conclusion of the proceedings, saying the outcome brought all regulatory cases against the club to an end.
“Now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close,” the club said.
“We are grateful to Uefa, the Premier League and the FA for their engagement with the club throughout these processes.”
The FA’s latest punishment comes months after Chelsea were handed an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a £750,000 fine over breaches involving the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022.
All of the breaches covered by the latest case took place during the ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich owned Chelsea until May 2022, when he was forced to sell the club after being sanctioned by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has denied allegations linking him financially to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale of Chelsea remain frozen in a UK bank account, with the funds intended for humanitarian purposes.
Despite the latest sanctions, Chelsea will not face an immediate points deduction or transfer ban, with the two-window registration ban suspended and the six-point deduction set aside on appeal.
