The penalty stems from Chelsea's violations in transfer transactions between 2011 and 2018, during the ownership of Roman Abramovich. Specifically, the club made undeclared payments to agents, unlicensed intermediaries, and other individuals, including players.
Contracts involving Eden Hazard, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Nemanja Matic, Samuel Eto’o, and three other unnamed players were linked to these undeclared payments. Additionally, secret payments were also sent to former Football Director Frank Arnesen and scout Piet de Visser.
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Eden Hazard and David Luiz were involved in two of the transfer deals where Chelsea committed violations under former owner Abramovich, leading to the Premier League's penalty on 16/3. *Photo: PA* |
Investigations by the Premier League and court rulings revealed that "these funds were transferred from offshore entities linked to billionaire Abramovich". In total, these secret payments amounted to USD 63,2 million.
The Premier League statement clarified: "Between 2011 and 2018, third parties associated with Chelsea made undeclared payments to players, unregistered agents, and other third parties. These expenses were not reported to football regulatory bodies at the time, including the Premier League. These were payments for Chelsea's benefit and should have been accounted for as club expenses. Therefore, this action constitutes a breach of the league's integrity requirements."
Previously, British newspaper The Times reported that Manchester United missed the opportunity to sign Hazard after the "Red Devils" management refused a request for millions of USD in undeclared payments from the player's agent.
Despite receiving the largest fine in Premier League history, Chelsea avoided sporting penalties such as point deductions. This was due to new owner BlueCo proactively reporting the issues after taking over in 5/2022. The first-team transfer ban is suspended for two years and will become effective if Chelsea commits any further violations.
For the academy, the transfer ban applies to young players previously registered with another Premier League or English Football League (EFL) club's academy. This penalty does not apply to current players, international players, or those signing professional contracts.
In a response statement, Chelsea emphasized their full cooperation with regulatory bodies and welcomed the Premier League's acknowledgement of this cooperation by not imposing sporting sanctions. "Without the club's voluntary disclosure, many violations might never have come to light," Chelsea's statement read.
Earlier in 2023, Chelsea was also fined USD 11,5 million by UEFA after proactively reporting opaque transactions between 2012 and 2019. Currently, the club still faces separate sanctions from the Football Association (FA) concerning 74 alleged violations of agent regulations.
By Ha Phuong
