According to The Athletic, with Manchester City found guilty of nearly all charges by an independent regulatory commission in the Premier League financial rules violations case, Chelsea's previous handling of financial issues inherited from the Abramovich era has come under renewed scrutiny. The Athletic believes that BlueCo's decision to proactively report and fully cooperate with investigations after acquiring Chelsea helped the club avoid potentially more severe consequences.

When BlueCo was completing its acquisition of Chelsea in May 2022, several concerning issues were discovered during the review of the club's financial records. The new owners reserved £100 million from the final purchase price to cover "unexpected liabilities" and proactively reported issues related to financial statements, undisclosed agent fees, and third-party investments to UEFA, the Premier League, and the FA.

Subsequently, all three organizations launched investigations. In September 2025, the FA brought 74 charges against Chelsea for alleged violations that occurred between 2009 and 2022, a number that quickly drew comparisons to Manchester City's 115 charges.

However, The Athletic notes that there is a fundamental difference in the nature of the violations faced by Chelsea and Manchester City. BlueCo's choice to cooperate rather than pursue a prolonged legal battle with regulatory authorities has yielded clear results across all three investigation levels.

In July 2023, Chelsea reached a settlement with UEFA, agreeing to pay a one-time fine of €10 million to resolve issues related to "incomplete financial reporting" between 2012 and 2019.

In March this year, the Premier League announced a settlement with Chelsea. Chelsea was fined £10 million for breaching financial reporting and third-party investment regulations, and also received a one-year transfer ban for the first team, suspended for two years.

In July this year, the FA proceedings concluded with sanctions largely consistent with those from the Premier League: a £10 million fine and a one-year transfer ban for the first team, suspended for two years. Additionally, the regulatory commission initially imposed a six-point deduction on Chelsea, also suspended until the end of the 2026-27 season. However, Chelsea subsequently filed a successful appeal and had this points deduction overturned.

This means that as long as Chelsea does not breach the relevant rules again during the probation period, the club will not actually have to serve the transfer ban. Moreover, the total fines from the three regulatory investigations are even less than what Chelsea paid to sign young winger Geovany Quenda from Sporting CP.

More importantly, these sanctions have not yet had a direct competitive impact on Xabi Alonso and his squad.

The Premier League investigation involved 36 payments totaling over £47.5 million. These payments were made by third-party entities controlled or associated with Abramovich to 12 individuals or business entities between 2011 and 2018. The expenses ultimately benefited Chelsea but were not disclosed to the Premier League.

The transfers affected by these violations included agreements for players such as Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, Ramires, Nemanja Matić, Samuel Eto'o, and André Schürrle to join Chelsea. These players subsequently helped Chelsea win numerous trophies, including the club's first Champions League title, two Premier League titles, and multiple domestic and European competition trophies.

The Athletic notes that a natural advantage for BlueCo was that they were not part of the Abramovich-era management. The departures of former Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia within weeks of the acquisition further reinforced the narrative that the new management had severed ties with the past.

However, BlueCo did not rely solely on a change in management, but continued to provide a high level of cooperation after proactively reporting the issues.

The FA regulatory commission's written decision stated that Chelsea provided "an unprecedented degree of cooperation," submitted "a substantial amount of important evidence" to the authorities, and assisted in organizing interviews with current and former employees.

At the Premier League investigation level, Chelsea also achieved a favorable outcome on a key issue: the investigation found that the scale of these undisclosed payments was not sufficient for Chelsea to have breached the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules in the relevant years.

Previously, Everton and Nottingham Forest had received points deductions for breaching this type of rule, making this finding crucial for Chelsea.

Additionally, the Premier League did not argue that Chelsea gained a sporting advantage by acquiring players such as Hazard and Willian, and the FA ultimately did not use this as the basis for punishment.

However, the FA regulatory commission took a stricter view.

The three-person regulatory panel found that Chelsea's actions at the time were "extremely serious, unprecedented in scope, and entirely consistent with a long-standing culture of non-compliance." The commission also determined that the club's primary overall motivation was to gain a sporting advantage, and that Chelsea had indeed benefited from it.

The commission found that this advantage was reflected, on one hand, in Chelsea's ability to build a deeper squad than they would have if they had fully complied with the rules, and on the other hand, in the fact that competitors did not have a fair opportunity to compete for the players in question.

Based on this judgment, the FA regulatory commission initially set a 15-point deduction as the starting point for punishment. Subsequently, thanks to Chelsea's proactive reporting and active cooperation with the investigation, the deduction was reduced to 10 points; and further reduced to 6 points because the club admitted the relevant facts early, with the deduction suspended until the end of the 2026-27 season. Ultimately, this 6-point deduction was overturned during the appeal process.

The Athletic believes that BlueCo's approach created leniency margins for Chelsea at nearly every stage of the disciplinary proceedings.

The article also notes that some of the honors Chelsea achieved during the Abramovich era in the 2010s could be subject to long-term controversy due to these regulatory findings. However, these honors have not been stripped, and for most Chelsea fans, the significance of these titles may not change as a result.

In contrast, the disciplinary case between Manchester City and the Premier League is still ongoing. If the verdict against Manchester City is upheld after the appeal process, subsequent sanctions could include fines, transfer bans, points deductions, demotion, expulsion from the league, and even title stripping.

The Athletic believes it is in this context that Chelsea's previous approach becomes even more significant. BlueCo's first four years leading Chelsea have not been a smooth path, but at least in managing the financial issues inherited from the Abramovich era, the club successfully avoided a potentially more severe and prolonged regulatory crisis through proactive reporting and full cooperation.

Tradotto dall'IA.

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