Chelsea fined €11.6m over secret transfer payments

Chelsea have been fined €11.6m and given a one-year suspended transfer ban by the Premier League after admitting £47m in undisclosed payments to unregistered agents and third parties between 2011 and 2018.

The London club was found to have breached financial regulations during the ownership of Roman Abramovich, who sold the club in 2022 to a consortium led by Todd Boehly and BlueCo.

Although the sanction technically prevents the Stamford Bridge club from signing first-team players, the ban has been suspended for two years, meaning Chelsea can continue their transfer activities provided no further breaches occur during that period.

The Premier League’s report identified several transfers linked to the undisclosed payments, including deals involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, André Schürrle and Nemanja Matić.

According to the league, “undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties” for the benefit of Chelsea.

The breaches came to light after the club’s new owners conducted an internal review following their takeover in 2022 and self-reported the potential violations to football authorities.

Chelsea confirmed their cooperation in a statement, saying the club had treated the investigation “with the utmost seriousness” and provided full assistance to regulators.

The club has also reached a formal settlement with the Premier League over the historical issues.

In addition to the financial penalty, Chelsea were hit with a second sanction for breaches of the league’s Youth Development Rules, although details of that penalty were not immediately disclosed.