FA confirm significant punishments for Chelsea after 74 rule breaches

Chelsea have been fined £10 million by the Football Association (FA) for breaches of agent rules spanning across 13 years.

The FA charged Chelsea with 74 breaches of Rule E1.2 following self-reports from the club's current ownership.

Alongside their financial penalty, the Blues have also been handed a registration ban across two 'complete and consecutive transfer windows'. However, that ban is suspended until June 2027 provided that Chelsea are not found guilty of further offences.

In a statement, the FA confirmed that they had initially punished Chelsea with a six-point deduction, suspended for the same amount of time, but that this punishment was altered following an appeal. The initial sanction was decided upon back in March.

"The £10 million fine imposed by the Regulatory Commission was not subject to appeal and the full amount will be invested into grassroots football," the statement continues.

The charges relate to the time period between 2009 and 2022, when Roman Abramovich owned the club.

Roman Abramovich owned Chelsea during the period of the 74 rule breaches (Image: Getty)

Chelsea's current ownership, BlueCo, reported what they described as 'potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions and other potential breaches of FA rules' to the FA themselves shortly after taking control.

In July 2023, Chelsea were fined £8.57 million by UEFA over breaches of their financial rules, which related to the time period between 2012 and 2019.

The Premier League also opened an investigation into the club, with the transfers of Willian and Samuel Eto'o from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013 both placed under the spotlight.

READ MORE: Why Chelsea were placed under investigation over two Roman Abramovich transfers

Chelsea were subsequently ordered to pay an unpaid transfer levy of £771,288 in connection to the two transfers, as well as a nine-month ban on signing academy players.

Their most significant punishment was handed out back in 2019, when the club were found guilty of illegally signing players under the age of 18.

They were banned from registering new players for two transfer windows, both during the 2019/20 season, with their only new signing of that period being the permanent arrival of Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid. The Croatian was on loan at Stamford Bridge at the time of the transfer ban being announced.

Chelsea issue statement on FA punishment

Following the FA's sanctioning announcement on Friday, Chelsea have now issued a club statement in response.

The statement reads: "Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that a final decision has been reached by The FA's judicial bodies in relation to historical regulatory matters that were self-reported by the Club.

"In 2022, the Club self-reported potential historical rule breaches to all applicable regulators. Following that report, it has worked openly and transparently with all regulators, including voluntarily and proactively disclosing many thousands of documents.

"As previously announced, settlement agreements have been entered into with UEFA and the Premier League concerning the same self-reported regulatory matters and topics that have been addressed before.

"The Club is pleased to confirm that, now The FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the Club to a close.

"We are grateful to UEFA, the Premier League and The FA for their engagement with the Club throughout these processes."

FA identify 'very unusual' aspect of Chelsea investigation

The FA's written reasons for their sanctioning decisions appear to indicate that the punishments could have been more severe if two aspects that are described as 'very unusual' had not been noted.

The document states: "The Regulatory Commission identified two 'very unusual, if not unique' aspects of the case.

"The investigation arose out of the Club's self-reporting and it was unlikely that the matters would ever have come to light without that self-reporting.

"The FA had proposed a package of sanctions with which the Club did not disagree. In those circumstances the Regulatory Commission saw its role as one that scrutinised the proposed sanctions it was invited to impose, including considering a sporting sanction of a points deduction which The FA and the Club invited the Regulatory Commission not to impose."

However, it described the conduct of the previous ownership as 'deliberate and intentional, conducted at the highest level over the course of many seasons', as well as being 'unprecedented in terms of scale and consistent with there being a historic culture of rule-breaking'.

The written reasons also aimed significant criticism of those responsible at Chelsea during the time period for the charges.

"Those who then ... in control of the Club and running its activities on a day-to-day basis, reveals a shameful and arrogant disregard for the Rules of the game, and which has done so much to bring the game of football in general, and the name of CFC into disrepute."