The transactions that led to Chelsea being fined £8.6 million by UEFA include ‘failing to properly record payments to agents,’ reports have said.
Chelsea received the fine on Friday after UEFA announced they had submitted ‘incomplete financial information’ between 2012 and 2019 while Roman Abramovich was still at the helm.
New owner Todd Boehly made UEFA aware of the discrepancies in the accounts following his takeover of the club in May 2022 after the government forced Roman Abramovich to sell Chelsea due to links to Vladimir Putin.
According to reports in the Times, the breaches include ‘payments to agents that were not included that were not disclosed as part of the club’s financial statements.’
Chelsea will face no further punishment from UEFA beyond the €10m (£8.6m) fine, although the Premier League are expected to conduct their own investigations.
A UEFA statement last night said: ‘With respect to Chelsea FC, the CFCB First Chamber concluded that the club breached the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations as a result of submitting incomplete financial information.
‘Following the club’s sale in May 2022, the new ownership identified, and proactively reported to UEFA, instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership. The reported matters related to historical transactions which took place between 2012 and 2019.
‘Following its assessment, including the applicable statute of limitations, the CFCB First Chamber entered into a settlement agreement with the club which has agreed to pay a financial contribution of €10 million to fully resolve the reported matters.’
Chelsea are not in European competition next season after they finished 12th in the Premier League. Even though the irregularities stretch back to 2012, UEFA’s rules state Chelsea can only be punished for breaches that happened during the last five years.
UEFA also confirmed they have kicked Juventus out of this season’s Europa Conference League over the false accounting case that already saw them docked 10 points in the Italian league and miss out on Champions League qualification. It means Aston Villa move into the seeded pot for their two-legged play-off round in August.
Juventus have also been fined more than £17m, though they will only have to pay half of that figure as long as there are no irregularities in their accounts until 2025.
The club have accepted the decision and confirmed they will not be lodging an appeal, as president Gianluca Ferrero said: ‘We regret the decision of the Uefa. We do not share the interpretation that has been given of our defence, and we remain firmly convinced of the legitimacy of our actions and the validity of our arguments.
‘However, we have decided not to appeal this judgment.
‘Lodging an appeal, possibly to other levels of judgement, with uncertain outcomes and timing, would increase the uncertainty with respect to our eventual participation in the 2024/25 Uefa Champions League.’
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
