Chelsea have been charged with 74 breaches of Football Association (FA) rules relating to agents, intermediaries and third-party investment in players.
A consortium led by Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital completed their takeover of the club in May 2022 and subsequently flagged what they identified as accounting discrepancies inherited from Roman Abramovich's ownership of the team.
The charges relate to the period 2009 to 2022 but primarily between 2010 and 2016. Chelsea have until Sept. 19 to respond.
In July 2023, Chelsea agreed to pay UEFA €10 million ($11.6m) after voluntarily identifying what was described as "incomplete financial reporting" during the Abramovich era.
In a statement released on Thursday morning, the FA said: "The Football Association has today charged Chelsea FC with breaches of Regulations J1 and C2 of The FA Football Agents Regulations, Regulations A2 and A3 of The FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and Regulations A1 and B3 of The FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations."
A source has told ESPN that the Sept. 19 deadline could be extended if necessary. Depending on Chelsea's response, an independent regulatory commission would then be set up to hear the case and determine the appropriate sanction.
The club issued a statement shortly after the FA charges were confirmed. It read: "Chelsea FC is pleased to confirm that its engagement with the FA concerning matters that were self-reported by the club is now reaching a conclusion.
"The club's ownership group completed its purchase of the club on 30 May 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 and other potential breaches of FA rules.
"Immediately upon the completion of the purchase, the club self-reported these matters to all relevant regulators, including the FA.
"The club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the club's files and historical data.
"We will continue working collaboratively with The FA to conclude this matter as swiftly as possible. We wish to place on record our gratitude to The FA for their engagement with the Club on this complex case, the focus of which has been on matters that took place over a decade ago."
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Among the specific rules Chelsea are accused of breaking is the stipulation that "a Club, Player, Intermediary or other Participant must not so arrange matters as to conceal or misrepresent the reality and/or substance of any matters in relation to a Transaction or Contract Negotiation."
Rule J1 states: "A club must not at any time use the services, either directly or indirectly, of an Unauthorised Agent in relation to any Agency Activity. A club must not directly or indirectly make any payments to any Unauthorised Agent in respect of any Agency Activity."