Chelsea hit with 74 charges for alleged breaches of FA’s agent regulations

Chelsea have been hit with 74 charges related to alleged breaches of agent regulations by the Football Association.

The FA said the conduct the charges relate to spans a period between 2009 to 2022, when the club were owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and primarily relates to events which occurred between the 2010-11 to 2015-16 seasons. The FA said the west London club had until 19 September to respond to the charges.

Chelsea said: “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. 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.”

In August 2023, the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, said his organisation was investigating “historic” financial issues that Chelsea had self-reported to the Premier League and to the FA.

The previous month, Chelsea agreed a resolution with European football’s governing body to hand over £8.57m after owning up to “incomplete financial reporting” under the Abramovich regime. Uefa said it had been “proactively” approached with the information by Chelsea’s new ownership group.

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