Chelsea have been fined a record £10.75 million by the Premier League for past breaches of its rules, the league said on Monday.
The club also received a one year first team transfer ban. However, the ban is suspended for two years. Chelsea will also serve an immediate nine month ban on academy transfers.
The Premier League said the club’s current owners first reported the issue in 2022. They informed the league about possible breaches related to third party payments and financial reporting. The club later reported another possible breach of academy rules in 2025.
“The Premier League has concluded two separate disciplinary processes involving Chelsea Football Club, following the club voluntarily self reporting potential historical breaches of rules,” the league said.
After its investigation, the league found that between 2011 and 2018 third parties linked with Chelsea made secret payments. The money went to players, unregistered agents and other parties.
“These payments were not disclosed to the football regulatory authorities at the time, including the Premier League,” the league said.
“The payments were made for the benefit of Chelsea FC and should have been treated as having been made by the club.”
The league added that Chelsea accepted the payments were a breach of its rules. It said the club also failed to act in good faith by not reporting them earlier.
At the time of the payments, Chelsea were owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich. He sold the club in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. A group led by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital bought the club in May that year.
The Premier League also reviewed old financial reports from the club. These reports were recalculated after including the undisclosed payments. Chelsea accepted a £10 million fine for those issues.
Despite the breaches, the club avoided a points deduction. The league said Chelsea would not have broken the Profitability and Sustainability Rules during that period.
“The club’s proactive self reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors,” the league said.
Another investigation looked into academy rule breaches. It focused on the registration of youth players by a senior club employee between 2019 and 2022.
Chelsea accepted a £750,000 fine for this issue. The club also accepted the nine month ban on registering academy players from Premier League and EFL clubs.
All sanctions will take effect immediately. Chelsea will also pay the full cost of the investigation and disciplinary process.
“From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators,” Chelsea said in a statement.
The financial penalty is the biggest ever given by the Premier League. The previous record fine was £5.5 million given to West Ham United in 2007.
