Chelsea face points deduction threat as Premier League investigate secret agent payments

Chelsea could face the ultimate sanction of a Premier League points deduction over fresh allegations of hidden payments during the Roman Abramovich era.

The latest allegations claim offshore companies linked to the Russian billionaire made off-the-book payments and relate to a possible range of transfers, managerial appointments and associates of the club, including the deals for Eden Hazard, Willian, Samuel Eto’o and even the arrival of Antonio Conte, who won the Premier League at Chelsea in the 2016-17 season.

The new claims, which could amount to potential financial fair play breaches and were reported by The Guardian newspaper and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, are yet to be verified but are under investigation by the Premier League and the Football Association are also taking an interest in developments.

The alleged financial discrepancies are of the kind that prompted a pre-emptive £100 million discount on the club’s sale last year.

The Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly consortium negotiated that reduction on the £2.5 billion sale in May 2022 when due diligence detected possible irregularities that could require financial settlements in the future. With more details emerging as the result of leaked documents it is rated highly unlikely that the £100 million – regarded at the time as a contingency – will ever be paid to the fund set up by the sanctioned Russian billionaire.

The private equity consortium that bought out Abramovich last year has also self-reported possible breaches to Uefa and the Premier League which has developed some goodwill with regulators. But the new revelations threaten to widen the potential scope of the problem. Chelsea reached an £8 million settlement with the European governing body Uefa this year.

While the club has answered questions as best as it can, Chelsea’s current ownership has no access to these documents and is seeking to examine them before deciding on next steps.

The Premier League is yet to charge the club with any potential breaches under its rules, as it has Manchester City and Everton, although the eventuality cannot be ruled out. In such a scenario an independent commission would have all sanctions at its disposal, including a points deduction.

The Premier League has recommended to the independent commission hearing Everton’s case for alleged FFP breaches - now known in the Premier League as profit and sustainability rules (PSR) - that the club be deducted 12 points.

All payments to agents must be subject to British tax laws and fall within a club’s Premier League PSR consideration.

Many of the fresh documents which The Guardian claim detail offshore deals by companies owned by Abramovich related to Chelsea, including the current cache of 3.6 million, known as Cyprus Confidential, concern transactions of which the current club ownership have no knowledge. There are concerns at Chelsea that more might emerge.