Chelsea given academy transfer ban over secret payments to players

Chelsea have been fined £10.75 million and given sanctions over transfers by the Premier League for secret payments to players and unlicensed agents to facilitate the transfer of some of their biggest stars during Roman Abramovich’s ownership.

The signings of Eden Hazard, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Nemanja Matić and Samuel Eto’o plus three unknown players all involved undisclosed payments of millions of pounds. Payments were also made to former director of football Frank Arnesen and scout Piet de Visser.

The payments were made from offshore entities associated with Abramovich, the judgment of the case states.

In total the secret payments amounted to £47.5million. The club, which is still facing separate sanctions from the FA over 74 charges of breaching agents regulations, has been given a suspended transfer ban from the first-team squad, and an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.

It is the biggest fine ever handed out by the Premier League but no points deduction has been imposed as the offences were self-reported by the new owners following the May 2022 takeover.

The “sanction agreement” follows undisclosed payments to players, non-licensed agents and other figures around transfers between 2011 and 2018. These include:

⬤ £23million to seven unregistered agents in connection with the transfer of seven players: Hazard, Ramires, David Luiz, Schurrle and Matic plus two others whose names have been redacted — possibly because they were under 18.

⬤ £1.37million to Arnesen, de Visser and one unnamed individual.

⬤ £19.3million to two entities in connection with the transfer of Willian and Eto’o.

The judgment states: “The investigation determined, and the club has similarly admitted, that the payments made… occurred with the knowledge and approval of certain senior former officers and/or directors of the club; were made via the third party entities with funds which, it is understood, were controlled by or associated with the then owner of the club, Mr Roman Abramovich.”

The Times has previously revealed the investigation included the transfers of Hazard, Willian and Eto’o, and that Manchester United lost out on signing Eden Hazard after club chiefs refused his agent’s demand for a secret multi-million pound payment.

A Premier League statement read: “As a result of the Premier League’s investigation, it was established that between 2011 and 2018, undisclosed payments by third parties associated with the club were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.

“These payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities at the time, including the Premier League. The payments were made for the benefit of Chelsea FC and should have been treated as having been made by the club.

“The club has also accepted, among other things, that the making of these payments, as well as the failure to disclose them to the League, constituted a breach of the requirement to act in good faith towards the League.”

The Premier League confirmed it had given significant mitigation as the club’s new owners had reported the breaches after discovering the payments during the takeover process. It is also satisfied that even if the payments had all been declared Chelsea would still have complied with its profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

The statement added: “The Premier League Board was satisfied that in no scenario would the club have breached the League’s PSR during the relevant periods, had the relevant payments been properly included in the club’s historical financial submissions.

“When considering the appropriate sanction, the Premier League Board noted that the club’s proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors.”

The academy transfer ban follows breaches of the Premier League’s youth development rules, “committed by a former senior employee”, relating to the club’s registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022. This followed a further voluntary report by the club in 2025.

Chelsea said they “voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago” and handed over thousands of documents.

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