Chelsea FC fined millions over secret payments under Abramovich ownership
Chelsea F.C. have been given a record fine for secretive rule-breaching payments revealed as part of ICIJ’s Cyprus Confidential investigation
— buthas avoided a points deduction.
The London-based Premier League club was fined £10.75m, handed a suspended ban from signing first-team players and given an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.
The suspended transfer ban lasts for two years and will be triggered if there are further breaches.
The Premier League
imposed the penalties over breaches of financial rules during Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s ownership.
“All sanctions will take effect immediately with the club also paying the full costs of the League’s investigation and disciplinary processes,” the Premier League said.
The sanctions followed revelations of secret payments revealed by ICIJ partners The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Guardian.
Those revelations were made as part of ICIJ and Paper Trail Media’s Cyprus Confidential
investigation that examined Abramovich’s dealings in Cyprus, a notorious secrecy hub used by the oligarch to manage his fortune.
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