Revealed: Chelsea avoided sanction that would have RELEGATED them from the Premier League

Chelsea avoided a 15-point deduction over payments to unregistered agents that would have relegated them from the Premier League because they reported themselves for breaching the rules and cooperated with the investigation.

In the written reasons document in the case between Chelsea and the FA, the governing body said a 'starting point of 15 points is appropriate', before the club's self-reporting and cooperation was taken into account.

Chelsea would have been relegated had the punishment been imposed in the 2025-26 campaign. The Blues finished 13 points ahead of West Ham, who went down in 18th place on 39 points.

'The starting point will accordingly be reduced by 1/3 to 10 points to reflect the general mitigation under the heads of self-reporting and cooperation...' the written reasons state.

Chelsea were initially given a six-point deduction suspended until June 2027 and a £10m fine from an independent regulatory commission.

However, after appealing, the club will now only pay for their financial penalty with a suspended two-window transfer ban added in.

The Stamford Bridge side were hit with 74 charges by the FA and admitted to their chargesheet. The charges related to the use of and the making of payments to unregistered agents between 2011 and 2018.

Earlier this year, the Blues were fined £10m and handed a suspended transfer ban by the Premier League after admitting to making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties between 2011 and 2018.

Chelsea's owners BlueCo voluntarily reported themselves to several footballing regulators previously upon taking over from Roman Abramovich in 2022, as they were understood to notice their financial irregularities while doing their due diligence amid that takeover.

Now that they have reached settlement agreements with UEFA and the Premier League, and concluded their charges with the FA, it finally brings an end to Chelsea's issues from their old ownership.

In a statement, Chelsea said: 'In 2022, the club self-reported potential historical rule breaches to all applicable regulators. Following that report, it has worked openly and transparently with all regulators, including voluntarily and proactively disclosing many thousands of documents.

'As previously announced, settlement agreements have been entered into with UEFA and the Premier League concerning the same self-reported regulatory matters and topics that have been addressed before. The club is pleased to confirm that, now the FA process has concluded, this brings all regulatory proceedings against the club to a close. We are grateful to UEFA, the Premier League and the FA for their engagement with the club throughout these processes.'

A statement from the FA read: 'A financial sanction of £10m and a suspended two-window registration ban have been imposed on Chelsea FC for breaches of the Football Association Football Agent Regulations, Regulations on Working with Intermediaries and Third Party Investment in Players Regulations. The FA charged Chelsea FC with 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 after its current ownership self-reported misconduct upon its purchase of the club. The FA is continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising out of this case.

'Chelsea FC admitted to the 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 prior to a hearing and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed a six-point deduction, which was to be suspended until June 30, 2027, and a £10m fine.

'The club appealed against the suspended points deduction and an independent Appeal Board allowed the appeal and set aside this sanction following a further hearing.

'In its place, the Appeal Board imposed a registration ban for two complete and consecutive transfer windows which is suspended until 30 June 2027.' The £10m fine was not subject to appeal and the full amount will be invested into grassroots football.

The punishment relates to activity under Chelsea's old ownership prior to BlueCo.

With the Premier League in March, Chelsea were previously fined £10m and handed a suspended transfer ban after admitting to making secret payments to unofficial agents between 2011 and 2018. That related to several transfers such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic, though it should be noted that there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of those players. The £10m fine topped the £5.5m fine given to West Ham in 2007 over their signings of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.

Chelsea also received a nine-month academy transfer ban and a £750,000 fine over the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022.

The Premier League did say at the time that the £10m fine would have been £20m, but was reduced by 50 per cent after Chelsea proactively self-reported and co-operated.

It was also concluded that Chelsea would not have breached the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability rules during the applicable seasons in which they were investigated – even if the payments had been registered properly.