The FA has fined Chelsea £10m and imposed a suspended two-window transfer ban after the club admitted 74 breaches of agent and third-party rules
Chelsea FC has been fined £10m and handed a registration ban covering two complete transfer windows, suspended until 30 June 2027, for breaches of the Football Association’s (FA’s) Football Agent Regulations, Regulations on Working with Intermediaries and Third Party Investment in Players Regulations.
The FA charged the club with 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 after its current ownership self-reported the misconduct during its 2022 purchase of the club from Roman Abramovich.
Chelsea admitted all 74 breaches before the original hearing.
The breaches relate to secret payments made to agents between 2011 and 2018, under Abramovich’s ownership. The full £10m fine will be invested into grassroots football, the FA said in a statement.
Chelsea: Points deduction set aside on appeal
An independent Regulatory Commission initially imposed a six-point deduction, suspended until 30 June 2027, alongside the £10m fine. Chelsea appealed against the points sanction.
“The club appealed against the suspended points deduction and an independent Appeal Board allowed the appeal and set aside this sanction following a further hearing,” the FA said. “In its place, the Appeal Board imposed a registration ban for two complete and consecutive transfer windows which is suspended until 30 June 2027.”
The £10m fine was not subject to appeal and remains in place. Chelsea can continue to register players unless the club commits further breaches before the June 2027 deadline, at which point the FA can apply to activate the ban.
The FA said it “is continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising out of this case.”
Chelsea said in a statement: “In 2022, the club self-reported potential historical rule breaches to all applicable regulators. Following that report, it has worked openly and transparently with all regulators, including voluntarily and proactively disclosing many thousands of documents.”
Third sanction over Abramovich-era payments
The FA ruling concludes the third and final disciplinary process arising from the self-reported breaches, following settlements with the Premier League and UEFA.
The Premier League fined Chelsea a record £10.75m in March 2026 and imposed a one-year first-team transfer ban, suspended for two years, plus an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.
The Premier League found that undisclosed third-party payments totalling more than £47m were made to players, unregistered agents and other parties between 2011 and 2018, covering transfers including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian. The league halved the fine from £20m, citing the club’s self-reporting and cooperation.
UEFA also fined Chelsea €10m (£8.6m) in 2023 for submitting incomplete financial information covering 2012 to 2019.
UEFA imposed further sanctions at the start of the 2025/26 season over the club’s Squad Cost Ratio position and profits booked from related-party transactions, including the £200m sale of the women’s team to Blueco Midco, a subsidiary of the club’s parent company, as covered in Insider Sport‘s analysis of Chelsea’s record £262.4m pre-tax loss.
Chelsea said: “As previously announced, settlement agreements have been entered into with UEFA and the Premier League concerning the same self-reported regulatory matters.”
