Chelsea may have violated Premier League and UEFA Financial Fair Play rules during the Roman Abramovich era, with top-flight clubs now awaiting the outcome.
Wolves will be among the Premier League clubs keeping a close eye on Chelsea following reports that the club could be docked points for alleged financial rule violations.
According to The Guardian, Chelsea may face more questions about their long-term success under Roman Abramovich after documents appeared to show a “string of payments” that violated Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. An investigation by the newspaper and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism discovered files related to a series of payments totaling tens of millions of dollars over a decade.
Payments were allegedly routed ‘through offshore vehicles’ belonging to Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK Government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. These were said to be for Chelsea’s benefit, raising the question of whether the governing bodies were informed.
These payments are said to have gone to Eden Hazard’s agent, an associate of Antonio Conte, and club officials. The transfers of Samuel Eto’o and Willian have also been called into question after payments were made to Suleiman Kerimov, the owner of Anzhi Makhachkala, the club for which the duo was playing at the time.
Two months prior to these transactions, Abramovich’s company Leiston Holdings paid two separate companies for “football-related services, including scouting and other advice,” which The Guardian believes may have resulted in a violation of FFP regulations for which Chelsea could be charged.
It comes after Todd Boehly, the new owner of Chelsea, voluntarily reported to the FA “incomplete financial information” from the Abramovich era. “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,” Price of Football Podcast host Kieran Maguire said.
“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 Mirror Football colleagues. However, the club previously stated: “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership.” They are about entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and have nothing to do with anyone who is currently at the club.
“On May 30, 2022, Chelsea FC’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club.” The ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions during the club’s previous ownership during a thorough due diligence process prior to the completion of the purchase. Immediately after the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these issues to all relevant 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 currently sits in 10th place in the table after a poor start to the season. Wolves are 12th in the table, one point behind the London club.
