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Chelsea cop record fine over historic secret payments
AP •  March 17th, 2026 8:18 am
Todd Boehly | Photo: AP
Chelsea FC have been fined about NZ$20.7 million by the Premier League and handed transfer sanctions after self-reporting historic financial breaches.
The club has also been given a suspended one-year transfer ban and an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban following an investigation into undisclosed payments linked to transfers between 2011 and 2018.
The penalty relates to roughly NZ$95.9m in secret payments made to unregistered agents, players and third parties during that period. The fine is the largest ever issued by the Premier League and is nearly double the previous record handed to West Ham United F.C. in 2007 over the controversial signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.
The investigation was triggered after a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly took over the club from former owner Roman Abramovich in 2022 and shared information with league officials.
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According to the Premier League, several high-profile transfers were linked to the undisclosed payments, including deals involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, David Luiz, Nemanja Matic, Willian and Andre Schurrle. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of the players involved.
The league said that even if the payments had been properly disclosed in financial submissions at the time, the club would still have remained within profitability and sustainability rules.
Chelsea’s punishment was reduced due to the club’s “proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation” with investigators.
The club has already been fined about NZ$17.7m by UEFA for submitting incomplete financial information covering the period between 2012 and 2019.
Chelsea are also facing 74 alleged breaches of rules set by The Football Association linked to the same historical financial disclosures.
In a statement, the club said the investigation was made possible by its own reporting and the thousands of documents it supplied to football authorities. Chelsea noted the Premier League acknowledged that several breaches “may never have come to light” without the club’s cooperation.
