Chelsea could reportedly have breached the Premier League and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules in the Roman Abramovich era with top-flight clubs now awaiting an outcome
Chelsea could yet face Premier League punishment after further reports on Roman Abramovich’s ownership were revealed Wolves will be among the Premier League teams keeping a close eye on Chelsea after reports suggesting the club could be hit with points deduction over alleged breaches of financial rules.
Chelsea could face more questions about their prolonged success when Roman Abramovich was owner after documents appeared to show a “string of payments” that breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, according to a report by The Guardian.
An investigation by newspaper and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found files related to a series of payments, spread out over a decade and worth tens of millions.
Payments were supposedly routed ‘through offshore vehicles’ belonging to Abramovich, who left under a cloud after he was sanctioned by the UK Government after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.
These were said to be for Chelsea’s benefit questioning whether the governing bodies were made aware.
Eden Hazard’s agent, an associate of Antonio Conte and officials at the club are said to be among the recipients of these payments.
The deals bringing Samuel Eto’o and Willian to the club have also been brought into question after payments were made to Suleiman Kerimov – owner of Anzhi Makhachkala, the club the duo played for at the time.
Two months prior to these deals, Abramovich’s company Leiston Holdings paid two separate companies for their “services related to football, including scouting and other advice” – which The Guardian believes could lead to a breach of FFP regulations for which Chelsea could be charged.
It comes after new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly voluntarily reported “incomplete financial information” from the Abramovich era to the FA.
Price of Football Podcast host Kieran Maguire said: “If there is proof that the club has used third party transactions to circumvent the profitability and sustainability rules then sanctions would be either financial or a points deduction.
“The latter is more likely as any commission investigating a club’s circumstances will want to put out a deterrent that dissuades others from repeating such behaviour.”
Chelsea did not respond to a request for comment from our colleagues at Mirror Football. But in a previous statement the club said: “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership.
They concern entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club.
“Chelsea FC’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club on May 30, 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 during the club’s previous ownership.
Immediately following the completion of the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these matters to all applicable football regulators.
“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency the club has proactively assisted the applicable regulators with their investigations and will continue to do so.”
Chelsea, who are recovering from a poor start to the season, sit in 10th place in the table. Wolves are 12th, one point behind the London club.
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