- Chelsea have been fined £10m by the FA over undisclosed transfer payments, while a suspended transfer ban will only apply if rules are breached again.
Chelsea sanctioned over historical transfer payment breaches
Chelsea has been fined £10 million and handed a suspended two-window transfer ban after the Football Association found the club breached regulations governing football agents, intermediaries, and third-party investment in players.
These historical regulatory breaches happened at the time when Roman Abramovich owned the club. After the takeover of Blue & Co. in 2022, they found the breaches and voluntarily reported to the football association.
What Chelsea did wrong under FA Rule E1.2
After the investigation, FA found that Chelsea made undisclosed payments through offshore companies and third parties, meaning the ultimate recipients and the full financial arrangements were hidden from the FA, which breaches FA Rule E1. 2.
Clubs must only use authorized agents and must fully disclose who acted in a transfer and how much they were paid. Every payment connected to a transfer must be accurately declared, but Chelsea failed to disclose approximately £47.5 million in transfer-related payments linked to several deals, preventing the FA from seeing the complete financial picture.
Chelsea avoided an immediate transfer ban
The FA has imposed a two-transfer-window registration ban, but it is fully suspended until 30 June 2027. That means Chelsea can sign and register players as normal during this period, but the suspended ban will become active if Chelsea breaches the conditions attached to the suspension before 30 June 2027. If they comply with the rules until then, the ban will expire without ever taking effect.
Why the FA reduced Chelsea's original punishment
Originally, an independent regulatory commission imposed a £10 million fine and a 6-point deduction on the team, but Chelsea only appealed the point deduction. The Appeal Board agreed with them and removed the suspended six-point deduction, replacing it with a suspended two-transfer-window registration ban.
The Appeal Board called the initial FA sanction of a six-point suspended points deduction “excessive” because the club did not gain a sporting advantage during the period in question.
In an official statement, the FA says, “The misconduct may never have come to light but for the self-reporting; the exceptional cooperation on the part of the club; the fact that it occurred under the club's previous owner without the knowledge of the current owners; and that the club did not gain a sporting advantage over the relevant period.”
Chelsea did not breach PSR and also self-reported the historical regulatory breaches. This was a mitigating factor and Chelsea’s level of cooperation was termed "exceptional."