Chelsea points deduction? Investigation finds ‘separate payments’ to ‘Russian entities’ in 2013 signings

Football365

·31 October 2023

Chelsea points deduction? Investigation finds ‘separate payments’ to ‘Russian entities’ in 2013 signings

Willian and Samuel Eto'o celebrate a goal.

The signings of Willian and Samuel Eto’o are part of an investigation from the Premier League into secret transfer-related payments made by Chelsea during the Roman Abramovich era.

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Both players joined the Blues from Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2013.

When the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club from Abramovich last year, the new owners flagged up a number of issues during the due diligence process and The Times says the two transfers are part of a Premier League investigation.

Financial records indicate that “Russian entities” may have received payments that were ‘separate to any transfer fee’.

Willian cost Chelsea £30m after Anzhi signed him from Shakhtar Donetsk for an identical transfer fee seven months earlier.

Eto’o joined the club on a free transfer.

The same outlet revealed earlier this year that the Premier League is currently investigating ‘payments of millions of pounds by Chelsea between 2012 and 2019 to secretive offshore companies’.

Boehly and his team reported the payments to the FA, Premier League and Uefa after the takeover was completed.

The report says that payments currently under scrutiny include payments to offshore companies, Russian entities and a player’s – believed to be Andreas Christensen – family.

Chelsea previously said in a statement: “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership. They concern entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club.

“Chelsea FC’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club on May 30, 2022. During a thorough due diligence process prior to completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions during the club’s previous ownership.

“Immediately following the completion of the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these matters to all applicable football regulators.

“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency the club has proactively assisted the applicable regulators with their investigations and will continue to do so.”

The Times report adds:

‘Sources with knowledge of the case have claimed that payments to at least six offshore companies have been identified, which raise questions as to whether they were linked to the transfer of players. The alleged payments, which run into seven figures, appear not to have been registered as part of the club’s annual financial reporting to the FA, Premier League and Uefa, which would be in breach of their rules. ‘In some of the cases there are links to figures in football behind the offshore companies, but in others it has not been possible to establish the ownership. ‘Even though any rule breaches would have been under Chelsea’s previous ownership, the club could face sanctions from the Premier League, such as heavy fines and points deductions. The present owners would hope the fact they reported the irregular payments acts as mitigation.’

It is added that Chelsea have already agreed to pay Uefa a £8.57m settlement to cover FFP breaches.

The Premier League investigation could also result in questions to former chairman Bruce Buck and former director Marina Granovskaia, who were essentially Abramovich’s right-hand man and right-hand woman.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters confirmed the investigation in August following the report from The Times.

“If the Premier League believes a club has breached the financial regulations and there is a case to answer, that case will be put to the club,” he said.

“We want due process to be served in as efficient a way as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Amidst all of the allegations, Chelsea could be fearing a possible points deduction and/or a transfer ban.

All Mauricio Pochettino and his bosses can realistically do at this time is sit and wait to see what happens.

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