The premier professional football team Chelsea F.C have been fined £10.75 million and handed a one-year suspended transfer ban alongside a nine-month academy transfer ban that will take effect immediately due to offences between 2019 to 2022.
The breach of rules took place under the ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and the violations were self-reported by the club’s new American owners.
The league said secret payments were made to players at the club, totalling £47.5 million and breached rules surrounding registration of youth players.
The report from the Premier League named a number of transfers that were related to secret payments, including moves that saw Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, Nemanja Matic, and Samuel Eto’o join the club as well as four redacted names.
Former Chelsea forward Eden Hazard during his time with the club (Credit:chelseafc.com)
The league has made no suggestion that the players committed any offences.
The original fine was set to be £20 million, but the league reduced the penalty because the club co-operated with the investigation and reported the issue themselves.
The fine and transfer bans come just one day before the clubs Champions League round of 16 matchups against Paris Saint-Germain Tuesday at 4 p.m.
