Chelsea facing 'draconian punishment' amid 'whistleblower' claim - Wyness

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Published on:

04 May 2024, 1:30 pm

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Chelsea and other clubs should face "draconian punishment" if they are caught exploiting the new financial rules with loopholes.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed the Premier League would likely have to rely on "whistleblowers" and admitted the new proposals will be "hard to police".

On Monday (29 April), Premier League clubs voted in favour of developing plans to introduce a spending cap - which will reportedly be set at around £500million per season.

The rules would limit outlay on transfers, wages and agents’ fees and 16 clubs voted in favour of their introduction, with Chelsea abstaining.

Chelsea face 'draconian punishment' after new 'loophole' claim, says Wyness

Finance guru Kieran Maguire has previously told Football Insider (20 April) that Chelsea “made a mockery” of the current Premier League financial rules by using a loophole to sell two hotels to a sister company for £77million - and avoiding a Profitability and Sustainability Rule breach.

Wyness insisted top-flight chiefs must "come down very, very heavy" on clubs looking to exploit the new rules when they are introduced.

He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “The only way you can police these things is by having the clubs sign a statement confirming they have complied with the rules, and not gone out of their way to get around those rules.

“You’ve then got to rely on whistleblowers. Things do come out, either through agents or players, and you’d hope that would be the case.

“If they do catch a club using loopholes, they would have to come down very, very heavy. It would certainly be a draconian punishment.

“The Premier League will have to get forensic accountants in place to look at things. It will be very hard to police.”

In other news, Chelsea fans are all saying the same thing about Pochettino getting sacked.

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