Chelsea have been charged with 74 breaches of Football Association rules relating to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022.
The charges primarily centre around events that took place between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons, when Roman Abramovich was the club’s owner, and concern agents, intermediaries and third-party investments in players.
Abramovich owned Chelsea from 2003 to 2022, when the club was sold to a consortium fronted by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
Chelsea have until September 19 to respond to the charges.
A statement from the FA read: “The Football Association has today charged Chelsea FC with breaches of Regulations J1 and C2 of The FA Football Agents Regulations, Regulations A2 and A3 of The FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and Regulations A1 and B3 of The FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations.
“In total, 74 charges have been brought against Chelsea FC. 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. Chelsea FC has until 19 September 2025 to respond.”
A statement from Chelsea said the club had self-reported the issues they discovered during the ownership group’s due diligence process and was working collaboratively with the FA.
“Chelsea FC is pleased to confirm that its engagement with The FA concerning matters that were self-reported by the club is now reaching a conclusion,” it read.
“The Club’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club on 30 May 2022. 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. 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. We wish to place on record our gratitude to The FA for their engagement with the Club on this complex case, the focus of which has been on matters that took place over a decade ago.”
