helsea have been fined £8.57million (€10m) by Uefa for historical breaches of Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP) relating to “submitting incomplete financial information”.
The Blues have been punished for “incomplete financial reporting” in relation to transfers made between 2012 and 2019 and reached a settlement with European football’s governing body.
The transactions took place under the previous Roman Abramovich ownership rather than the current Boehly-Clearlake Capital group, who identified the potential issues after last year’s takeover of the club and reported them to Uefa.
A statement from UEFA read: “With respect to Chelsea FC (ENG), the CFCB First Chamber concluded that the club breached the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations as a result of submitting incomplete financial information.
“Following the club’s sale in May 2022, the new ownership identified, and proactively reported to UEFA, instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership. The reported matters related to historical transactions which took place between 2012 and 2019.
“Following its assessment, including the applicable statute of limitations, the CFCB First Chamber entered into a settlement agreement with the club which has agreed to pay a financial contribution of €10 million to fully resolve the reported matters.”
Chelsea said: “Chelsea FC’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 during the club’s previous ownership. Immediately following the completion of the purchase, Chelsea self-reported these matters to UEFA.
“Chelsea has fully cooperated and assisted UEFA with its investigation of these matters and, following an analysis by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, the club has entered into a settlement agreement with UEFA. Under that settlement the club is to pay a financial contribution of €10 million to UEFA as a fixed payment.
“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency with its regulators, we are grateful that this case has been concluded by proactive disclosure of information to UEFA and a settlement that fully resolves the reported matters.
“We wish to place on record our gratitude to UEFA for its consideration of this matter. Chelsea greatly values its relationship with UEFA and looks forward to building on that relationship in the years to come.”
