Independent: Chelsea’s violation has caused controversy, should we take the focus now on past mistakes

September 12 News Recently, the Independent talked about the controversy over the ownership liability caused by the Chelsea violation, and they said whether the current owner should be responsible for the mistakes of the former owner has become the focus.

In a long meeting between the Football Association and Premier League senior executives, discussions on Chelsea’s violations of brokers focused on one point: whether the current owner should be held responsible for the mistakes of the former owner, a question that could set an important precedent in the increasingly complex modern football era of law. Sources revealed that the legal team generally believed that all these issues should be considered in the context of the fact that former boss Abramovich should bear full responsibility and was reported by the new owner Clearlake. Therefore, it is expected to end with a fine. However, this view is not consistent, as other clubs have also been affected. They missed the signing and trophy, no matter who the owner was.

Many Chelsea rival executives are dissatisfied with the situation, believing that UEFA's £8.6 million fine for Chelsea in July 2023 was too light and expressed impatient with the lack of progress in the Premier League investigation. The latter, like the Manchester City case, takes time.

Chelsea acknowledged that this is the same club, although the owners are different. They do not expect sports sanctions such as points deductions or transfer bans, believing that this will unfairly punish fans, existing players and management. New owners think they should not be responsible for this and believe they are doing it completely right under "unprecedented circumstances."

People familiar with the matter said that the FA had tried to reach a negotiation result, namely a high fine. However, to some people’s surprise, this ultimately leads to allegations rather than settlements. Chelsea said that their internal expectations have been facing allegations, so the club stated that they were "satisfied" with this. Since the acquisition, Chelsea has proactively reported violations and emphasized a cooperative attitude with the football authorities, providing all documents.

The case is actually similar to the case where Manchester City was accused, but it is smaller. Manchester City insists that it is not guilty, the Manchester City case involves exaggerated income, while Chelsea has underestimated expenses, but the effect is the same. Undeclared payments keep Chelsea within the restrictions on fiscal fair competition, and also lead to the submission of false documents and suspected fraud.

These actions help Chelsea compete at a higher level, with the Premier League investigation expected to deal with potential fiscal fair competition violations, while the FA investigation focused on broker regulations.

Some people have questioned why the Premier League has dragged on the FA in investigations, and Hazard's transfer in 2012 may be one of the most watched cases. Manchester United was expected to sign him, but the deal broke down due to additional requests from the broker.

An offshore company in Abramovich reportedly paid £6 million to Hazard's brokers through a Dubai company. Such examples illustrate the continued anger of rivals, Hazard was a key player in Chelsea's Premier League titles in 2014/15 and 2016/17.

Chelsea once again stressed that they were proactive in reporting violations and believed that this sets a standard ahead of the new independent regulator to be introduced. Chelsea is expected to face fines, but the final decision will be made by the independent regulatory committee, and the allegations also mean that the process has entered a new stage.

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