Chelsea given record fine for payments revealed by Bureau investigation

More than two years ago, we revealed tens of millions of pounds in secretive payments had been made from offshore firms owned by Roman Abramovich during his time as owner of Chelsea.

Some of these related to the acquisition of major stars including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian, and they raised major questions about the success of a club that won 17 major trophies under the oligarch’s ownership.

Now, following a lengthy investigation of its own, the English Premier League has come to a similar conclusion and handed Chelsea the biggest fine in the competition’s history. In fact they have found even more cases of these payments, which it says total over £45m.

In a statement issued on Monday, it wrote: “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.”

As a result, Chelsea has been slapped with a £10.75m fine, a nine-month academy transfer ban and a suspended ban from signing first-team players.

The sanctions are the result of two Premier League investigations: one into the third-party payments and another into breaches of rules around how the club registered some of its youth players.

According to a statement by the Premier League, Chelsea, under its current ownership, voluntarily reported the potential violations following Abramovich’s forced sale of the club in 2022.

The details were originally unearthed from thousands of documents we reviewed alongside the Guardian as part of the ICIJ and Paper-Trail Media’s Cyprus Confidential project. People receiving the payments included an Italian agent who reportedly helped bring Antonio Conte to Chelsea as well as chairmen of other football clubs, including Swindon Town and CSKA Moscow.

The Premier League’s investigation concluded that while these payments breached reporting rules, there was no evidence that they would have violated profitability and sustainability rules, which are in place to prevent reckless spending from rich owners.

Mitigating factors, including Chelsea’s proactive self-reporting and full cooperation, were cited in determining penalties.

A Chelsea spokesperson said: “From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.”

A separate FA disciplinary process against Chelsea remains ongoing, while Uefa had already concluded historic investigations into the club.

There is no suggestion that any of the players were at fault. Abramovich has not commented on the allegations.