Tag: Chelsea

Chelsea were hit with 74 charges by the Football Association on Thursday after the London club were accused of breaching regulations covering football agents, intermediaries and third-party investment in players spanning more than a decade.

The FA did not elaborate on the charges but Chelsea said the matters were ‘self-reported’ by the club after the change in ownership in May 2022.

“The conduct that is the subject of the charges ranges from 2009 to 2022 and primarily relates to events which occurred between the 2010-11 to 2015-16 playing seasons,” the FA said in a statement.

At the time, the London club was owned by Roman Abramovich, but the Russian billionaire put Chelsea up for sale in 2022 following sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Abramovich, who bought the club in 2003, completed the sale to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

“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,” Chelsea said in a statement.

“Immediately upon the completion of the purchase, the club self-reported these matters to all relevant regulators, including the FA.

“The club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the club’s files and historical data.

“We will continue working collaboratively with the FA to conclude this matter as swiftly as possible.”

The FA said Chelsea have until September 19 to respond to the charge.

A source at the club told Reuters they had opened their books to the FA so England’s soccer governing body can make educated judgements on the historical payments.

The source could not reveal the nature of the charges or the irregular payments as it is an ongoing legal matter but confirmed they were related to the men’s team.

Chelsea are also hoping the FA takes their transparency into account if the alleged breaches result in sanctions which could range from fines, points deductions or even transfer bans.

FIFA had handed Chelsea a transfer ban in 2019 after they were found guilty of breaching rules regarding 29 overseas players under the age of 18.

In July 2023, European soccer body UEFA had reached a settlement with Chelsea over the submission of incomplete financial information, related to “historical transactions” between 2012-2019.

At the time, the owners said they had proactively reported instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting to UEFA.

Two weeks later, the Premier League said it was investigating potential financial rule breaches at Chelsea under Abramovich’s ownership.

The Times reported that the inquiry encompasses multi-million-pound payments to undisclosed offshore entities, with connections to football intermediaries.

In July this year, Chelsea were also fined 31 million euros ($36.31 million) by UEFA for breaches of its financial rules by not complying with the football earnings rule and breaching the squad cost rule.

Chelsea had agreed to a four-year settlement with UEFA to avoid the risk of being hit with a further 60 million euros if they do not get their finances in order.

Chelsea have been recognised by UEFA for becoming the first club in history to win all four of the governing body’s major competitions.

The London club received a special award on Thursday during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco, following their UEFA Conference League triumph in May, where they defeated Real Betis 4-1 in Wrocław.

The victory completed Chelsea’s collection of the Champions League, Europa League, Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Conference League, a clean sweep never before achieved by any club.

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UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin presented the award to Chelsea officials at the ceremony, describing the achievement as unique in European football history.

Chelsea’s continental honours now include:

*2 Champions League titles (2012, 2021)

*2 Europa League titles (2013, 2019)

*2 Cup Winners’ Cups (1971, 1998)

*2 UEFA Super Cups (1998, 2021)

*1 UEFA Conference League (2025)

This landmark triumph cements Chelsea’s place as the only club to secure every major UEFA competition trophy.

Chelsea suffered a Club World Cup hangover as they were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace to open their Premier League campaign on Sunday.

Palace were denied an early opener when Eberechi Eze’s free-kick was ruled out by a VAR review for Marc Guehi obstructing the Chelsea wall.

New Chelsea signing Estevao came closest to snatching a winner for the home side, but the newly-crowned world champions were blunt in attack against a well-organised Palace defence.

The Eagles key duo of Guehi and Eze started despite mounting speculation the England internationals are set to join Liverpool and Tottenham, respectively.

 “As long as they are 100 percent committed, they will play as they are so good,” said Palace boss Oliver Glasner.

 “They didn’t just show they are great footballers, but they are great persons and that’s what I expected.”

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Eze thought he had opened the scoring with a blistering free-kick that had too much power for Robert Sanchez.

The goal was disallowed for Guehi’s role in creating a gap by man-handling Moises Caicedo into the Chelsea wall.

Chelsea’s demolition of European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final last month had raised the Blues’ hopes they can challenge for a first Premier League title since 2017.

But Enzo Maresca bemoaned his side’s lack of preparation time since beating PSG in New York just 35 days ago.

 “They played about eight (pre-season) games, we played just two so we tried our best,” said the Italian.

 “We expected a tough game. Apart from the first half free-kick, we didn’t concede any chances.”

Estevao scored against Chelsea at the Club World Cup in his final game for Palmeiras.

The Brazilian has been hyped as one of the world’s brightest young talents but lacked the composure to finish when he sliced high and wide from the middle of the box.

Nottingham Forest made light of manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s pre-season fears over a lack of signings with a dominant 3-1 win over a much-changed Brentford.

Chris Wood struck twice either side of Dan Ndyoe’s debut goal for Forest on a nightmare afternoon for new Brentford boss Keith Andrews.

 “It was a very good first half. The combinations were really good, beautiful goals,” said Nuno.

 “This is why we are insisting on a good balanced squad that gives us options and solutions.”

The Bees have lost their manager, captain and top scorer in the off-season.

Thomas Frank left to take charge of Tottenham, Bryan Mbeumo got his dream move to Manchester United and Arsenal secured Christian Norgaard.

Yoane Wissa was also missing from the Brentford squad ahead of an expected move to Newcastle.

Igor Thiago’s first goal for the club from the penalty spot late on was the only consolation for the visitors.

 “I do have genuine belief but we have to take responsibility for a first half that wasn’t good enough,” said Andrews.