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Chelsea could reportedly lose points as leaked documents have revealed a possible rule breach by former club owner Roman Abramovich. As reported by The Sun, the Russian oligarch allegedly helped fund the club's success over more than a decade with secret payments.
The report claims that a hidden money trail worth tens of millions of pounds has been identified, which could come back to haunt Chelsea. It has been claimed that the Blues broke Financial Fair Play rules with off-book funds.
The East London giants reportedly benefitted from such transactions, which include several beneficiaries. An associate of former manager Antonio Conte, Bertrand Traoré, Samuel Eto'o, Willian and several club officials were among them.
The report claims that Chelsea could face severe punishments for the breaching of rules, including a possible points deduction or a large fine.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of Football, said, as quoted by The Sun:
“If there is proof that the club has used third party transactions to circumvent the profitability and sustainability rules then sanctions would be either financial or a points deduction. The latter is more likely as any commission investigating a club’s circumstances will want to put out a deterrent that dissuades others from repeating such behaviour.”
The Blues were already under probe by the Premier League for their finances between the period from 2012 to 2019. They were also subject to a £8.6 million fine by UEFA for incomplete financial information.
Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK and EU for his links with Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He was forced to sell Chelsea after owning the club for 19 years.
Chris Sutton insists Chelsea man should be banned after incident against Manchester City
Football pundit Chris Sutton has claimed that Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino should be banned for his actions in a 4-4 draw against Manchester City.
Pochettino stormed onto the pitch to confront the match officials after the Cityzens were handed a controversial penalty, earning a yellow card in the process. But, Sutton insisted that the Blues boss deserved a bigger punishment.
He said (via The Chelsea Chronicle):
“I think this season has seemed worse than ever in terms of Premier League managers attacking referees, there are a lot of issues with VAR and a lot of decisions have been questionable this season but the reaction of Premier League managers have been over the top. The biggest thing is that further down the chain – so Pochettino shouting in a fourth official’s face – that will have consequences down the leagues because people will think it’s the norm if Pochettino is a good guy if he can do that, that’s the norm."
“It will have a knock-on effect and you think grassroots referees, there are cases of them being attacked or verbally abused, so Premier League managers have a great responsibility and there is a line, and many have crossed it this season," he added. "Really there needs to be severe bans on Premier League managers behaving in that manner, simply because of the effect it will have on referees further down the chain.”
Pochettino made an apology to the officials during the post-match press conference. However, we will have to wait and see whether he receives further punishment.
