Chelsea have been given a suspended one-year transfer ban and fined £10.75 million ($14m) in relation to historical breaches of Premier League rules.
The London club have also been hit with an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.
The sanctions relate to information shared with the league by a consortium featuring American businessman Todd Boehly following the consortium’s takeover of the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2022.
Chelsea also avoided a points deduction after admitting to breaching Premier League rules in relation to more than £47million ($62m) of undisclosed payments made under the ownership of Abramovich.
The Premier League found that between 2011 and 2018 undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.
However, the league’s assessment was that even if the payments had been properly included in historical financial submissions, the club would not have been in breach of the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
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The league took Chelsea’s “proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional co-operation” into account as mitigating factors in determining the punishment Chelsea should face.
Chelsea have also been charged by the Football Association with 74 alleged breaches of that governing body’s rules, also in connection to the information the new owners shared with the football authorities.
In relation to the settlement with the Premier League, Chelsea said in a statement: “The club voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago.
“During an extensive Premier League investigation, the club proactively disclosed many thousands of documents. Also, when requests for information were made by the Premier League, the club promptly provided comprehensive responses and facilitated all lines of inquiry to support a complex and extremely thorough process.
“Furthermore, during the investigation, additional evidence was provided to the club by a third party regarding potential breaches of Premier League rules committed by a former employee in a small number of historical academy transactions. This information was immediately and proactively self-reported to the Premier League.
“From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.
“The club welcomes the recognition from the Premier League of its ‘exceptional co-operation’ and that ‘without those voluntary disclosures and the act of self-reporting, a number of the Premier League rule breaches may never have come to the attention of the league’.”
Undisclosed payments were made from third party entities which the Premier League said were “controlled by or associated with” previous owner Roman Abramovich to unlicensed agents and individuals connected to selling clubs which helped to facilitate transfers for players including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian.
These payments, which the league said were made with the “knowledge and approval” of senior former Chelsea officials, were not properly disclosed.
