Chelsea given suspended transfer ban but points deduction removed after appeal

FEELING BLUE: Chelsea have been fined £10million and given a suspended two-window transfer ban by an independent appeal board after admitting breaches of Football Association agent rules. Pic: John Walton/PA Wire.

Chelsea have been fined £10million and given a suspended two-window transfer ban after an appeal hearing into their sanction for breaching Football Association agents rules.

The club were initially given a suspended six-point deduction along with the fine but the points penalty has now been replaced by the suspended transfer ban.

The FA confirmed the imposition of sanctions on the west London club on Friday, who admitted to 74 breaches in total of FA regulations covering agents, working with intermediaries and third party investment in players.

The club’s new owners self-reported the breaches to the football authorities in 2022, when they were in the process of buying the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The six-point deduction, suspended until June 30, 2027 was imposed by the independent commission which initially heard the case but the club appealed against that.

An appeal board instead replaced the points penalty with the suspended two-window transfer ban.

Chelsea have previously entered sanction settlements in regard to this matter with the Premier League and UEFA.

Chelsea issued a statement saying: “In 2022, the club self-reported potential historical rule breaches to all applicable regulators. Following that report, it has worked openly and transparently with all regulators, including voluntarily and proactively disclosing many thousands of documents.”

The club said they were “pleased to confirm that, now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close”.