Chelsea FC has been charged with 74 breaches of The Football Association’s (FA) rules on agents and third-party investment.
This covers violations of the FA’s Football Agents Regulations, Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and Third Party Investment in Players Regulations.
Chelsea have until September 19 to respond to the charges but has already released a preliminary statement, within which the club confirmed it had self-reported the breaches.
In the statement, Chelsea said the current ownership group discovered “potentially incomplete financial reporting” during its 2022 takeover and immediately alerted regulators.
“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 statement said.
The club added it had shown “unprecedented transparency” by giving the FA access to historical files and data, and said the case concerns “matters that took place over a decade ago.”
Chelsea’s full statement can be found here.
The FA stated the charges stem from between 2009-2022, but primarily relate to events which occurred during the 2010/11 and 2015/16 seasons. These time periods were when the club was under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.
The Russian billionaire sold Chelsea in May 2022 to BlueCo, a consortium led by Clearlake Capital’s Behdad Eghbali and US billionaire Todd Boehly.
The current Chelsea owners filed self-admitted financial irregularities to The FA in May 2022 during the takeover process, which resulted in £100m being redacted from the finalised £2.5bn sale.
BlueCo also self-reported “incomplete financial reporting” to UEFA. The European footballing organisation agreed a settlement with Chelsea for £8m.
What are the rules Chelsea have breached?
The FA states Chelsea have been found to have breached Regulation J1 and Regulation C2 of its Football Agents Regulations. These rules came into effect in January 2024 and amendments were updated with immediate effect on June 1, 2025.
Regulation J1 pertains to rules surrounding the registration and conduct of agents to their licensing and activities they undertake during player representation.
Regulation C2 concerns agent fees. This regulation also covers payments sent to agents who hold dual representation of both the player and football club, as well how and when clubs pay agents.
Chelsea have also been charged with breaching the FA’s regulations on Working with Intermediaries. The club have breached Regulation A2, which requires that a club or player can only use an FA authorised agent or intermediary as a representative. It also mandates a valid written contract between the intermediary and the club or player before “any work is undertaken”.
Regulation A3 of the Working with Intermediaries regulation was also breached by the club. This prohibits any party from organising matters which could conceal or misrepresent the reality of a transaction, relating to player wages and agent fees.
The third overarching regulation Chelsea have breached the Third Party Investment in Player Regulations. Regulation A1, which was breached, states no club may enter into an agreement with other than the club itself to “materially influence the club;s policies or performance of the team and its players.
The regulation also forbids clubs from entering into an agreement with a third-party that involves making or receiving payments, or transacting in rights or obligations, related to a player’s registration, transfer, or employment.
What could be the possible penalties?
Despite the breaches of The FA’s regulations falling under Abramovich’s time, Chelsea could potentially still be charged under BlueCo’s ownership.
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol stated “a financial penalty could be a more appropriate sanction,” due to the club self-reporting the incident and the charges stemming from previous ownership.
