The Premier League is under mounting pressure to crack down on clubs after an investigation by the Guardian and international partners uncovered secret payments that raise questions about the financial affairs of Chelsea under their former owner, the billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich.
As experts warned that Chelsea could face a points deduction if found guilty of breaching spending rules, politicians and a senior executive at a rival club called for tougher oversight of football clubs. Chelsea are the third top-flight club this year to face intense scrutiny over their compliance with rules designed to promote fair competition.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that the club may have benefited from tens of millions of pounds in payments routed through offshore vehicles belonging to Abramovich. Beneficiaries appear to include the agent of the star player Eden Hazard, an associate of the title-winning manager Antonio Conte and Chelsea FC officials. Other payments appear to have been connected to the purchase of the players Willian and Samuel Eto’o.
The Premier League has already accused Manchester City of breaking rules, chiefly related to spending limits, issuing more than 100 charges against the club in February 2023. However, no resolution has been reached nine months later amid a protracted legal tussle between the two sides. Everton, charged with breaking financial rules a month later, are expected to discover their fate sooner, with a judicial panel rumoured to be considering recommending a 12-point deduction.
The Premier League must now decide whether it has sufficient evidence to charge Chelsea with breaking the rules. The Football Association is also investigating the west London club’s finances. Clive Betts, a Labour MP who heads a cross-party parliamentary group on football, called on the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, to put pressure on football’s governing bodies to look into the findings in depth.
A senior Tory said the regulator was needed to ensure proper oversight, with currently too much overlap between the clubs and governing bodies such as the Premier League, which is made up of the 20 clubs in the top division. “This [revelations about Chelsea’s finances] is another example as to why politicians are concerned about connections between football clubs and the people who regulate them,” said the source.
