Chelsea’s 2023/24 season looks set to go from bad to worse as reports claim that they could lose Premier League points.
The Blues are currently languishing in the bottom half of the table after a poor start that mirrors their 2022/23 outing. They have only three wins from the 10 games they have played so far.
Mauricio Pochettino, however, has managed to build a squad that looks like they can challenge when they come together. He did this with the help of the club’s new administration led by Todd Boehly and co. These transfer dealings were heavily monitored by the Premier League authorities as well as the FA. So far, no issue has been found and the American billionaire’s dealings have a clean bill of jealth.
However, a move they made earlier now set to be the source of Pochettino’s latest worry.
The Premier League were already looking into payments from the Roman Abramovich era, specifically transfer payments made between 2012 and 2019. Some fraud was detected by the new owners and escalated to the right authorities.
The Todd Boehly-led administration released a statement after alerting the authorities about the discrepancies, saying, “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership. They concern entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club.”
“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency the club has proactively assisted the applicable regulators with their investigations and will continue to do so.”
While it is a move made in good faith, the club is about to go further down the Premier League table as a result.
The first of a number of punishments given to clubs that have committed financial impropriety is docking of points. The Blues could lose as many as 12 points if found guilty. The Blues currently have 12 points. This means they will become dead last in the league if this pans out badly for them.
Chelsea have already agreed an £8.57 million settlement with UEFA over financial fair play breaches in the past year. There are suggestions that this could save them from the full wrath of football law. This is what Blues’ fans will be hoping for ahead of the coming weeks.
Former club director Marina Granovskaia declined to comment on the investigation which reports indicate are drawing to a close.
