Chelsea sanction: Stefan Borson drops verdict after secret payment revealed
Chelsea’s financial dealings are in the spotlight again after a historic payment linked to former owner Roman Abramovich has been revealed.
The Russian oligarch sold the Premier League side to BlueCo, which is spearheaded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, for £4.25billion in May 2022.
Chelsea revealed during BlueCo’s takeover they discovered “incomplete financial information” had been submitted to the football authorities between 2012 and 2019.
The London giants then reported themselves to the Premier League, Uefa and the FA, leading to an investigation into the matter taking place.
Chelsea reached an £8.7million settlement with Uefa in July 2023 due to the governing body having a statute of limitations that meant it was able to look back only as far as the 2018-19 season – something the Premier League has no such restriction on.
It was revealed earlier this year the club were in talks with the Premier League over agreeing a financial settlement for the payments.
However, The Times reported on 24 April Manchester United missed out on signing Eden Hazard in 2012 after they refused to pay his agent, John Bico, a secret multi-million-pound payment, which would have breached the Premier League and Uefa’s rules.
It said a Premier League investigation is continuing into allegations an offshore company belonging to Abramovich made a £6million payment in 2013 to Bico via a Dubai firm after Chelsea signed Hazard for £32million from Lille in 2012.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Chelsea could be facing a sporting penalty after gaining a sporting advantage from the Hazard deal.
The former Belgium international registered 110 goals and 88 assists in 352 appearances at Stamford Bridge, where he claimed six trophies before joining Real Madrid in a £130million deal in 2019.
Chelsea to land penalty after ‘hopeless’ argument
Borson insisted Chelsea’s argument they should face a financial penalty is “hopeless”.
He told Football Insider: “There was a story in January from Martin Ziegler, who just wrote the story about Hazard that they were in negotiations for a financial settlement for the historic matter in the way that they had with Uefa.
“Now, first of all, that was not described in their accounts as an ongoing matter, although we do know that the investigation is ongoing and is not finished.
“Likewise, in that January article written by Martin Ziegler, he said that there was an expectation that it would be dealt with by the end of March. That has come and gone. We are now almost in May.
“That piece on Hazard, first of all, is not a surprise. Of course, if you’re going around making backhand off-book payments, backhand payments to agents to facilitate signings, and it wasn’t just hazard, there were various other players.
“If you look at Willian, I think he was meant to go to Spurs. Hazard had a whole host of clubs that he was close to joining. City, United and Spurs were all said to be close to signing him.
“I think the idea that they got no sporting advantage is a hopeless argument. I think they clearly got a sporting advantage from the payments that have been made off-book. They are all very historic, but there was clearly a sporting advantage.
“The general rule from the cases that we saw with Leicester and Everton is that if you have a sporting advantage, then you have a sporting sanction and not just a mere financial penalty.
“Now, Chelsea will say ‘Look, you only find out about this because we admitted it first of all. And secondly, you only find out about this because it came up in the acquisition by a new management team and a new ownership group, and therefore we shouldn’t be held liable for the historic acts of the club’.
“But in law, that seems to me to be a pretty hopeless argument as well because the way it works is that the company itself is responsible for the historic acts of the company regardless of who the shareholders are.”
| Appearances | 352 |
| Goals | 110 |
| Assists | 88 |
| Trophies won | 6 |
Enzo Maresca sack update emerges at Chelsea
Football Insider revealed on 21 April Enzo Maresca has the backing of the Chelsea board despite the recent unrest among the fans.
Sources say Stamford Bridge chiefs see the 45-year-old as the man to take the club forward, with his side currently sitting fifth in the Premier League table.
Maresca left Leicester City to join Chelsea last summer, having signed a contract running until June 2029.
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