- Safiu Kehinde
English Premier League club, Chelsea, has been slammed with £10 million fine and a suspended two-window transfer ban over secret payment to football agents.
The London side were reported to have violated the Football Association rule with secret payments to players’ representatives when Roman Abramovich was the owner.
The deals believed to have indicted the Blues include deals for players such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian.
According to SkySports, the club’s current owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, had self-reported 74 potential historical breaches of FA rules when they bought the club from the Russian oligarch in 2022.
The FA would on Friday confirm the sanctions following the conclusion of its probe.
An Independent Regulatory Commission initially issued the fine along with a six-point deduction, suspended until 30 June 2027, but the points penalty has now been replaced by the transfer ban.
The ban which reportedly covers “two complete and consecutive transfer windows”, suspended until the same date.
The fine imposed by the Regulatory Commission “was not subject to appeal” and “will be invested into grassroots football”, the FA said.
Chelsea would in a club statement issued on Saturday confirm the development.
The reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions recalled self-reporting the infractions in 2022 stressing that it had since the report worked transparently with all regulators.
It expressed gratitude to UEFA, Premier League, and the FA for their engagement with the club over the course of the probe.