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

When BlueCo was close to completing its acquisition of Chelsea in May 2022, a review of the club's financial records revealed several concerning issues. The new owners consequently withheld £100 million from the final purchase price to address "unforeseen liabilities" and voluntarily reported issues concerning financial declarations, undisclosed intermediary fees, and third-party investments to UEFA, the Premier League, and the FA.

Subsequently, all three bodies launched investigations. In September 2025, the FA charged Chelsea with 74 breaches allegedly occurring between 2009 and 2022, a number that quickly drew comparisons to Manchester City's 115 charges.

However, The Athletic points out that there are fundamental differences in the nature of the breaches faced by Chelsea and Manchester City. BlueCo's choice to cooperate rather than engage in prolonged legal battles with regulators yielded clear results across all three investigations.

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

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

In July of this year, the FA's proceedings concluded, with penalties largely consistent with the Premier League's: a £10 million fine and a one-year first-team transfer ban, suspended for two years. Additionally, the regulatory commission initially imposed a 6-point deduction, also suspended until the end of the 2026-27 season. However, Chelsea successfully appealed and had this points deduction overturned.

This means that as long as Chelsea does not violate relevant rules during the probation period, the club will not actually face a transfer ban. Moreover, the total fines from the three regulatory investigations are less than the cost of Chelsea's signing of young winger Giovane Cândido from Sporting CP.

More importantly, these penalties currently have no direct negative sporting impact on Xabi Alonso and his team.

The Premier League investigation covered 36 payments totaling over £47.5 million. These payments were made by third-party entities controlled by or associated with Abramovich between 2011 and 2018 to 12 individuals or corporate entities, with the related expenses ultimately benefiting Chelsea but not declared to the Premier League.

Transfers affected by these irregularities include those of players such as Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, Ramires, Matic, Samuel Eto'o, and André Schürrle. 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 honours.

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

However, BlueCo did not rely solely on management changes but continued to provide extensive cooperation after proactively reporting the issues.

The FA regulatory commission's written ruling stated that Chelsea provided an "unprecedented level of cooperation," submitting "a significant volume of crucial evidence" to regulators and facilitating interviews with current and former employees.

At the Premier League level, Chelsea also achieved a favourable outcome on a key issue: the investigation determined that the scale of these undeclared payments was insufficient for Chelsea to have violated the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules in the relevant years.

Previously, Everton and Nottingham Forest had suffered points deductions for violating this type of rule, making this determination crucial for Chelsea.

Furthermore, the Premier League did not find that Chelsea gained a sporting advantage by signing players such as Hazard and Willian, and the FA ultimately did not use this as a basis for penalties.

However, the FA regulatory commission took a stricter view on this matter.

The three-person regulatory panel concluded that Chelsea's actions were "extremely serious, unprecedented in scale, and entirely consistent with a long-standing culture of non-compliance." The commission also determined that the primary and overarching motive for the club's actions was to gain a sporting advantage, and that Chelsea did indeed benefit from this.

The commission believed this advantage was manifested in two ways: Chelsea's ability to build a squad with greater depth than would have been possible under full compliance with the rules, and competitors' inability to fairly compete for the same players.

Based on this judgment, the FA regulatory commission initially imposed a 15-point deduction. Due to Chelsea's proactive reporting and active cooperation with the investigation, the deduction was reduced to 10 points; it was further lowered to 6 points because the club admitted the facts early, with the deduction suspended until the end of the 2026-27 season. Ultimately, these 6 points were cancelled during the appeal process.

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

The article also points out that some of Chelsea's achievements during the Abramovich era in the 2010s may become subject to long-term debate given these regulatory conclusions. However, these honours have not been revoked, and for most Chelsea fans, the significance of these trophies may remain unchanged as a result.

In contrast, Manchester City's disciplinary case with the Premier League remains ongoing. If the ruling against Manchester City is upheld following the appeal process, subsequent penalties could include fines, transfer bans, points deductions, relegation, expulsion from the league, or even the stripping of titles.

The Athletic suggests that against this backdrop, Chelsea's prior handling of the situation appears even more significant. While BlueCo's first four years leading Chelsea have not been without challenges, in addressing the financial issues inherited from the Abramovich era, the club successfully averted a potentially harsher and more protracted regulatory crisis through proactive reporting and full cooperation.

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