CHELSEA HAVE BEEN fined £10 million (€11.7m) and given a suspended two-window transfer ban after an appeal hearing into their sanction for breaching Football Association agents rules.
The club were initially given a suspended six-point deduction along with the fine but the points penalty has now been replaced by the suspended transfer ban.
The FA confirmed the imposition of sanctions on the west London club on Friday, who admitted to 74 breaches in total of FA regulations covering agents, working with intermediaries and third party investment in players.
The club’s new owners self-reported the breaches to the football authorities in 2022, when they were in the process of buying the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Roman Abramovich. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The six-point deduction, suspended until 30 June, 2027 was imposed by the independent commission which initially heard the case but the club appealed against that. An appeal board instead replaced the points penalty with the suspended two-window transfer ban.
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Chelsea have previously entered sanction settlements in regard to this matter with the Premier League and Uefa.
Chelsea issued a statement saying: “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.”
The club said they were “pleased to confirm that, now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close”.
The written reasons from the original independent commission, which heard the case on 8 December last year, confirmed the 74 FA charges related to 44 transactions involving 32 players between July 2009 and August 2022.
That commission’s findings criticised the “breathtaking disregard” for the rules shown by senior executives at the club at the time. Two of the transfers referenced in the written reasons are those of Samuel Eto’o and Willian to Chelsea, though there is no suggestion whatsoever of any wrongdoing by the players themselves.
The reasons reveal that the FA sought the imposition of a £10m (€11.69 million) fine and a two-window transfer ban, which Chelsea agreed with.
However, the original commission found “the principal and overall motive behind the club’s conduct was to gain a sporting advantage”.
It added: “Furthermore, in certain respects, CFC did gain a sporting advantage.”
It stated later in the written reasons: “Having carefully considered all the circumstances of the case, we are satisfied that the aggravating features far outweigh the mitigation which is available to CFC. We sympathise with the current owners of CFC who now have to pay the penalty for the conduct of their arrogant predecessors, who clearly believed that they were above the law.
“Nevertheless, that conduct was so egregious, so persistent and of such a duration that an overall sanction, whilst taking account of the mitigation which has rightly been described as ‘very powerful’, must reflect the fact that over a period of 13 years, one of the leading clubs under the umbrella and authority of the FA, if not in Europe, behaved in such a way that the integrity of football, and the competitions in which it was competing, was seriously compromised.”
The commission concluded it did not find the recommended two-window transfer ban “sufficient”.
The commission also expressed “grave concern, if not our total lack of comprehension” at the FA’s decision not to proceed with issuing charges against any individuals involved in the case as things stood.
The appeal board agreed with Chelsea that there was “insufficient evidence” identified by the original commission to support the findings that the club did gain an actual sporting advantage, and quashed the points penalty.
It described that sanction as “excessive” given the exceptional level of mitigation involved in the club self-reporting the breaches.
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Chelsea fined £10m and given suspended transfer ban instead of points deduction
LAST UPDATE | 31 Jul
CHELSEA HAVE BEEN fined £10 million (€11.7m) and given a suspended two-window transfer ban after an appeal hearing into their sanction for breaching Football Association agents rules.
The club were initially given a suspended six-point deduction along with the fine but the points penalty has now been replaced by the suspended transfer ban.
The FA confirmed the imposition of sanctions on the west London club on Friday, who admitted to 74 breaches in total of FA regulations covering agents, working with intermediaries and third party investment in players.
The club’s new owners self-reported the breaches to the football authorities in 2022, when they were in the process of buying the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
The six-point deduction, suspended until 30 June, 2027 was imposed by the independent commission which initially heard the case but the club appealed against that. An appeal board instead replaced the points penalty with the suspended two-window transfer ban.
Chelsea have previously entered sanction settlements in regard to this matter with the Premier League and Uefa.
Chelsea issued a statement saying: “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.”
The club said they were “pleased to confirm that, now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close”.
The written reasons from the original independent commission, which heard the case on 8 December last year, confirmed the 74 FA charges related to 44 transactions involving 32 players between July 2009 and August 2022.
That commission’s findings criticised the “breathtaking disregard” for the rules shown by senior executives at the club at the time. Two of the transfers referenced in the written reasons are those of Samuel Eto’o and Willian to Chelsea, though there is no suggestion whatsoever of any wrongdoing by the players themselves.
The reasons reveal that the FA sought the imposition of a £10m (€11.69 million) fine and a two-window transfer ban, which Chelsea agreed with.
However, the original commission found “the principal and overall motive behind the club’s conduct was to gain a sporting advantage”.
It added: “Furthermore, in certain respects, CFC did gain a sporting advantage.”
It stated later in the written reasons: “Having carefully considered all the circumstances of the case, we are satisfied that the aggravating features far outweigh the mitigation which is available to CFC. We sympathise with the current owners of CFC who now have to pay the penalty for the conduct of their arrogant predecessors, who clearly believed that they were above the law.
“Nevertheless, that conduct was so egregious, so persistent and of such a duration that an overall sanction, whilst taking account of the mitigation which has rightly been described as ‘very powerful’, must reflect the fact that over a period of 13 years, one of the leading clubs under the umbrella and authority of the FA, if not in Europe, behaved in such a way that the integrity of football, and the competitions in which it was competing, was seriously compromised.”
The commission concluded it did not find the recommended two-window transfer ban “sufficient”.
The commission also expressed “grave concern, if not our total lack of comprehension” at the FA’s decision not to proceed with issuing charges against any individuals involved in the case as things stood.
The appeal board agreed with Chelsea that there was “insufficient evidence” identified by the original commission to support the findings that the club did gain an actual sporting advantage, and quashed the points penalty.
It described that sanction as “excessive” given the exceptional level of mitigation involved in the club self-reporting the breaches.
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Chelsea Premier League transfer ban