The Premier League is investigating alleged financial rule violations at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich’s ownership, CEO Richard Masters told Britain’s Times newspaper on Wednesday.
Abramovich sold the club last year to an investment group formed by American businessman Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital after the UK government frozen the Russian oligarch’s assets in the UK after his country’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.”
The governing body of European soccer, UEFA, the Premier League, and the FA have received self-reports from Chelsea’s new owners on various financial transactions during the Abramovich period.
“We have been pretty open about the historic issues with regard to Chelsea because they self-reported to the Premier League and to the FA so it is obvious we are looking into that,” Masters told the newspaper.
According to the Times, the inquiry involves multi-million-pound payments to undisclosed offshore entities with connections to football intermediaries, which might result in penalties such as a significant fine or perhaps a points loss for the club.
Masters added, “If the Premier League believes a club has breached the financial regulations and there is a case to answer, that case will be put to the club. We want due process to be served in as efficient a way as possible, as quickly as possible. It is not always easy to do these things quickly but we want the right answer, positive or negative, whether clubs are found guilty of breaching rules or not.”