Chelsea fined £10mn, handed suspended transfer ban for breaching agent rules

Chelsea were fined £10 million ($13.4 million) and given a suspended two-window transfer ban on Friday after an appeal hearing into sanctions imposed for multiple breaches of Football Association rules.

The Premier League club were initially given a suspended six-point deduction along with a fine, but the points penalty has now been replaced by the suspended registration ban.

The club had admitted to 74 breaches of FA regulations covering agents, working with intermediaries and third-party investment in players.

Owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported the breaches to football authorities in 2022, when they were in the process of buying the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The six-point deduction, which was to have been suspended until the end of June 2027, was imposed by the independent commission that initially heard the case but the club appealed against that sanction.

An appeal board instead replaced the points penalty with the suspended two-window registration ban, which is suspended over the same period.

Chelsea have previously entered sanction settlements in regard to the matter with the Premier League and European football's governing body UEFA.

The £10 million fine imposed by the regulatory commission was not subject to appeal and the full amount will be invested into grassroots football.

The FA said it was continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising out of the case.

Chelsea issued a statement welcoming a "final decision" on the matter.

"In 2022, the club self-reported potential historical rule breaches to all applicable regulators," it said.

"Following that report, it has worked openly and transparently with all regulators, including voluntarily and proactively disclosing many thousands of documents."

It added: "The club is pleased to confirm that, now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close."