Chelsea have been charged 74 times by the Football Association (FA) over alleged breaches of regulations around working with football agents.
The charges span 13 years but “primarily relate” to a period of six years from 2010 to 2016.
The club says that the matters were “self-reported” and were identified by new owners BlueCo, led by Todd Boehly, during the course of its takeover from Roman Abramovich, which was completed in May 2022.
The i Paper understands Chelsea are also under investigation by the Premier League with regards to the same matters, while Uefa fined the club £8.6m back in 2023 for “instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting”.
A Chelsea statement said: “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.”
The statement added: “The club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the club’s files and historical data.”
What rules have Chelsea broken?
All of the rules broken relate to player representation, either by agents or by intermediaries. Agents who negotiate contracts are required to be registered with the FA, although since the start of the period mentioned for these charges, those regulations have evolved significantly.
Nevertheless, one of the rules allegedly broken pertains to working with an unregistered agent and another concealing or misrepresenting “any matters in relation to a transaction”.
Other alleged breaches relate to rules on third party investment in players, which exist in order to “prevent any party other than a recognised football club from holding an interest in a player”.
All of the charges are believed to relate to payments made in the course of transfers and player registration during the Abramovich era.
What next?
Chelsea now have eight days in which to respond to the FA charges.
“We will continue working collaboratively with The FA to conclude this matter as swiftly as possible,” the Chelsea statement adds.
“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.”
A lengthy Premier League investigation is ongoing, while Uefa fined Chelsea £8.6m back in 2023 two years ago over the same financial reporting issues that BlueCo identified during the takeover.
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