Chelsea charges: FA hand Blues 74 charges relating to agent regulations and third-party investment in players

Chelsea have been hit with 74 charges related to alleged breaches of agent regulations by the Football Association.

The FA said the charges span the period between 2009 and 2022, when the club were owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and primarily relate to events which occurred between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 seasons.

Sky Sports News understands there will not be a points deduction or sporting sanction if the charges are upheld but Chelsea could face a punishment similar to their recent settlement with UEFA, a Ôé¼10m fine.

The alleged rule breaches are for payments to intermediaries and agents, and investments in third-party ownership of players. They were self-reported by Chelsea, who have cooperated with the FA on the matter.

The breaches are related to tax matters which have been settled with HMRC and would not have impacted financial fair play regulation compliance.

Sky Sports News understands the transfers which raised potential concerns are believed to include deals for players such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o and Willian.

A Premier League investigation into Chelsea is ongoing, while Sky Sports News have approached Abramovich's representatives for comment.

The FA said the west London club had until September 19 to respond to the charges.

An FA statement said: "The Football Association has today charged Chelsea FC with breaches of Regulations J1 and C2 of The FA Football Agents Regulations, Regulations A2 and A3 of The FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and Regulations A1 and B3 of The FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations.

"In total, 74 charges have been brought against Chelsea FC. The conduct that is the subject of the charges ranges from 2009 to 2022 and primarily relates to events which occurred between the 2010/11 to 2015/16 playing seasons."

Chelsea shortly responded to the FA's announcement with a club statement expressing its "gratitude" to the FA after "self-reporting" the alleged charges, and they hope the matter will be concluded "as swiftly as possible".

A club statement said: "Chelsea FC is pleased to confirm that its engagement with The FA concerning matters that were self-reported by the club is now reaching a conclusion.

"The club's ownership group completed its purchase of the club on 30 May 2022. During a thorough due diligence process prior to completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions and other potential breaches of FA rules. Immediately upon the completion of the purchase, the Club self-reported these matters to all relevant regulators, including The FA.

"The club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the club's files and historical data. We will continue working collaboratively with The FA to conclude this matter as swiftly as possible. We wish to place on record our gratitude to The FA for their engagement with the club on this complex case, the focus of which has been on matters that took place over a decade ago."

In August 2023, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said his organisation was investigating "historic" financial issues that the club had self-reported to the Premier League and to the FA.

In July 2023, Chelsea agreed a resolution with European football's governing body to hand over ┬ú8.6m (Ôé¼10m) after owning up to "incomplete financial reporting" under the Abramovich regime.

UEFA said it had been "proactively" approached with the information by Chelsea's new ownership group.
What could Chelsea's punishment be?
I think the punishment is likely to be a fine and it is likely to be similar to the settlement they reached with UEFA. I know there's been talk of Chelsea potentially getting a points deduction or another sporting sanction. My information is that it is not currently on the agenda. The reason it is not on the agenda is because this was self-reported. They've also cooperated fully with the investigation.

Also, my information is that these breaches are tax-related - they have now been settled with HMRC. And I think Chelsea have now conducted their own independent investigations and they have discovered that these discrepancies would not have affected their compliance with Financial Fair Play regulations.

I think we are closer to the end of this process than the start. I know that [as] the charges have been announced today, you would expect maybe this is going to go on for months and months or even years, some of these cases do.

But I think this will be dealt with pretty quickly and I anticipate a settlement will be reached between Chelsea and the FA.
Explained: Why Chelsea self-reported alleged breaches
Sky Sports News' chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol:

These charges have come about as a result of Chelsea's owners, BlueCo, discovering potential breaches of the rules when they were carrying out due diligence when they bought the club in 2022.

As soon as they bought Chelsea in May 2022, they self-reported the potential historical breaches to the FA, the Premier League and UEFA.

Due diligence during the takeover process is believed to have uncovered payments connected to transfers to offshore companies and players' families and representatives. The payments are believed to be millions of pounds and were not registered in accounts submitted to the FA, the Premier League and UEFA.

Chelsea's new owners withheld £100m of the £2.5bn they paid for the club to cover "unforeseen liabilities".

In July 2023, Chelsea agreed to pay UEFA ┬ú8.6m (Ôé¼10m) as a settlement for incomplete financial reporting between 2012 and 2019 during the period when Abramovich owned the club.

Over the past three years, Chelsea have been cooperating fully with the investigations and have handed over all the files and data they have been asked to provide.
Alleged charges 'frankly unsurprising'
"Today's news is frankly unsurprising, as the investigation into Chelsea regarding financial reporting and irregularities has been ongoing since the summer of 2023.

"The FA and Premier League will likely be looking at why no one picked up the irregularities and how they were shown in the many reports and documents compiled by those both inside and outside the club.

"One key question that will be at the back of many fans' minds will be this - how much money is involved, and have those agents been working with Chelsea and other clubs subsequently? If so, other clubs may very well be contacted in relation to certain transfers."