Chelsea have been fined £10 million and given a suspended ban from registering new players for two transfer windows, after the Football Association found the club breached rules relating to agent payments between 2009 and 2022.

An independent Regulatory Commission had initially imposed a six-point deduction alongside the fine, suspended until June 30, 2027. Chelsea appealed the points penalty, and an independent Appeal Board set it aside, replacing it with the suspended two-window registration ban instead. The FA said it can still apply to activate the ban if Chelsea commit similar breaches before that date, and that it is continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising from the case.

Owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches of FA rules after buying the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022. Chelsea admitted to making £47 million in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties in connection with transfers between 2011 and 2018 — a period that includes deals for players such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o and Willian, though there's no indication of wrongdoing on the players' part. The fine was originally set at £26 million but was reduced by a third for self-reporting and cooperation, cut again for an early guilty plea, and reduced further to account for penalties already imposed by Uefa and the Premier League over the same underlying conduct.

The FA said the £10 million fine will be invested into grassroots football. All the breaches date back to Abramovich's ownership of the club; he was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 over alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he has denied.