What are the Charges Brought Against Chelsea by FA?

Chelsea FC have been charged by the Football Association (FA) with 74 breaches of regulations, ranging from financial misconduct, player transfers, and relating to the FA Football Agents Regulations, FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and FA Regulations of Third-party investment in Players.
All of this alleged misconduct occurred between 2009 and 2022; a majority of the misconduct occurred between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 seasons during the Roman Abramovich ownership. One of the most popular English football teams on the planet, Chelsea FC, have until 19th September 2025 to respond to these charges.

What Regulations Did Chelsea Breach?

The FA confirmed the following breaches:

• FA Football Agents Regulations – Regulations J1 and C2
• FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries – Regulations A2 and A3
• FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations – Regulations A1 and B3
  These charges are primarily related to agent involvement in transfers, third-party ownership of players, and financial transparency issues. Reports suggest suspicious payments connected to the signings of Eden Hazard, Willian, and Samuel Eto’o were central to the investigation.

How Did the Investigation Begin?

Through due diligence before they purchased the club in May 2022, the current ownership group, BlueCo, led by Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, was actually alerted to possible financial irregularities.
BlueCo self-reported their concerns to the Premier League, FA, and UEFA, which obviously prompted the FA investigation. The owners found some "incomplete financial documentation" and irregularities associated with the Abramovich regime.
The transparency has provided a level of importance within the case, as Chelsea has provided investigators with full access to historical files and records.

Chelsea’s Response

Chelsea have put out a statement affirming their collaboration, which reads as follows:
“The Club has shown unprecedented levels of openness throughout this process, including giving access to whole files and historical data. We will continue to work together with The FA to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
The Blues have contended that the breaches happened under the previous ownership and that the breaches would not have materialised without the current ownership’s willingness to divulge this information.

Possible Sanctions

Although 74 breaches seem a serious number, reports suggest Chelsea are more likely to face a financial punishment rather than a sporting sanction, such as a points deduction or a transfer ban.

• Chelsea have already received a fine from UEFA during 2023 for a similar self-report of financial misconduct, but did not receive any sporting sanctions.
• Rival clubs are considered to be sympathetic, as they realise BlueCo have inherited the issue and not caused it themselves.
  The discussions are still ongoing, with a settlement between Chelsea and the FA most likely coming in the next month or so.