29 Mar 2026 09:04:08
Our recent punishment for financial breaking of regulations set up by the governing bodies was about what I expected given our current owners self reporting and cooperating fully with those authorities.
I can understand why other clubs for various reasons might be annoyed that our punishment wasn't more severe. My theory is, if you break the rules, except the punishment.
I do think that if our breaches had been found out while RA was still our owner there would have a very heavy points deduction any maybe even worse. To be honest I think we dodged a bullet.
Obviously investigations and probably a further punishment awaits us (likely another fine) but the City investigation continues and that will be interesting. From the outside it doesn't look as if they have cooperated with the authorities and my guess is their punishment could be a very large points deduction but I think it will only be applied for next season. There are rumours of a sixty point deduction but I can't see that happening and I also can't see there league and cup titles being taken away from them.
29 Mar 2026 10:39:01
Tom, just to remind you they have denied the charges.
29 Mar 2026 11:08:09
I don't need reminding, and, for me, that should make any punishment more severe.
29 Mar 2026 12:14:51
Tom, I hope you're not on the jury if ever I'm in the dock. It doesn't work that way. As these proceedings carry sanctions, they would get credit for admissions rather than more severe punishment for denying the charges. However, if it is found that they obstructed the investigation, that would be an aggravating factor.
29 Mar 2026 13:14:16
Sorry, sent before I had finished.
As I said in my original post, "from the outside it doesn't look as if they have cooperated with the authorities."
My point is, we did, and it would appear "from the outside" they haven't.
As per the regulator's statement, we got our punishment reduced (well done, our owners), and if my assessment (from the outside) that City haven't, then I think they will get a more severe punishment if found guilty.
Our owners have not got everything right under their tenure, but in my opinion on this issue they acted correctly. I repeat, if the regulator had found out about our behaviour while RA was in charge, I believe our punishment would have been far more severe, and likely with a points deduction.
For the record, I have served on three criminal juries and found the defendant "guilty" all three times.
29 Mar 2026 12:18:25
Probably like most, I look through other teams postings and the amount we 'got away with' yet nobody seems to say rather it was our owners who self reported and that PL and FA would probably not have even picked it up.
The worrying thing is that the ED's are aware of this but do not educate other teams posters, mainly Everton, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Their fans have a constant dig at us for the leniency shown.
{Ed001's Note - I keep telling them when I see it mentioned, but people don't care Bill, they don't want to know. They would rather be ignorant and whine about things.}
29 Mar 2026 14:08:36
The Premier League probably needed the money from the fine to pay for their lawyers in the City case. lol.
29 Mar 2026 14:52:50
The thing that amazes me is how people scratch around to find something negative but never look to see the positives.
We did something wrong and got rightfully punished. The current owners behave properly and get zero compliments.
29 Mar 2026 15:09:53
Tom, it is the nature of your typical keyboard warrior, I'm afraid. They love a moan, a dig and a good stir.
As for the owners self reporting, it was the correct thing to do, and you have, rightly, praised them.
29 Mar 2026 16:05:38
There is no doubt the owners did the right thing, but they were under a duty to report the discrepancies. Since when has doing the right thing merited being showered with compliments? Every minute of every day, people are doing the right thing.
29 Mar 2026 16:16:20
When people do the "right thing", they do deserve to receive compliments, especially when the consequences of not being transparent and helpful would have been substantially more significant.
I can see nothing wrong with saying well done when it's deserved.
29 Mar 2026 16:38:00
I'll give them compliments when they do the right thing by the club.
29 Mar 2026 16:53:23
They have.
I have no problems with criticism when it's deserved, but surely the reverse also applies.
Anyway, the point I was actually making was about City, and how, from the "outside", they don't look to have been cooperative with the regulators.
I assume that, if this is the case, and if they are found to have been in breach of any rules, they will receive a very severe punishment.
29 Mar 2026 17:19:57
Tom, I was referring to football, not breaches of rules. I stand by what I said. I don't give a fig about what happens to City, whichever way it goes.
29 Mar 2026 17:27:14
Of course, your feelings toward City and any punishment they may receive are entirely yours, but my hunch is the vast majority of football fans are interested in how this saga plays out, and, if found guilty, what punishment is dished out.
29 Mar 2026 17:43:47
Tom, probably true, for the same reasons football fans and journalists have commented on our punishment. I'm only interested in Chelsea.
29 Mar 2026 18:04:24
Yep, you've already said that.
I guess it will be for other posters who feel the need to comment about the Chelsea owners and any potential punishment dished out to City.
29 Mar 2026 17:50:22
Cheers ED001
{Ed001's Note - very welcome.}
29 Mar 2026 18:35:01
Tom, as if you don't repeat the same things. Obviously, other posters will comment as they feel fit; this is, after all, a football banter site.
29 Mar 2026 18:40:49
Yep, I've already said that.
29 Mar 2026 18:51:32
I hope I get a 'well done' when I show up to work tomorrow morning!
29 Mar 2026 18:57:57
My guess is you will not, just for turning up, but if you do a good job, a "good" boss should always say well done and appreciate your efforts.
29 Mar 2026 19:39:01
Standard, by modern standards, you should be given a hero's welcome for bothering your arse to get out of bed to turn up for work (especially if you work in the public sector). My point, which has been missed, is that what should be normal, acceptable standards now deserve a round of applause.
29 Mar 2026 20:07:52
The owners self reported and got commended by the regulatory body for their full and complete cooperation. This resulted in a reduced punishment. That's the point, and the reason why the majority of supporters should be happy with the owners in this instance.
I'm just as happy to say well done when it's deserved as I am to be critical when it's deserved.
29 Mar 2026 21:02:40
Tom, I hate to repeat myself, but you are repeating yourself.
I am sure most of the supporters are happy with the result of the sanctions, as am I.
29 Mar 2026 21:16:15
I have found myself having to make the same point (not my original point), because others have continually avoided complimenting the owners on self reporting, cooperating fully with the investigation, and then being commended by a football regulator. The reason Chelsea supporters can be happy with our punishment is because our owners performed their duties well, and for that they, in my opinion, are to be commended.
Some may well say they are "happy with the result of the sanctions", but, for some strange reason, find it hard to acknowledge or applaud that we dodged a more severe punishment because of the way our current owners behaved.
Of course there are some on this site who do nothing but be critical of virtually everything Chelsea. As far as I'm concerned that is their choice and entirely up to them.
29 Mar 2026 22:23:29
There is no doubt that what the owners did was the right thing, but this should be expected from any organisation under regulation. I am interested in the football side of the club, and when I believe the owners deserve praise I will gladly do so.
29 Mar 2026 22:32:47
OMG, and that was my original point. We did cooperate, and the "outside" City haven't.
As I said in the beginning of this thread, it will be very interesting if City's apparent lack of cooperation, and if they are found guilty, will it result in a more severe punishment.
29 Mar 2026 22:29:34
Ed001, I appreciate you giving objective views about the Chelsea sanctions on the Liverpool site.The strange thing about this affair is that if the third party payments off the books had been disclosed we wouldn't have been in breach of the then extant FPP rules.I assume that that as also taken as mitigation of the punishment.
{Ed001's Note - possibly, yes.}
30 Mar 2026 08:52:45
Why have the FA also charged us ED01? and what are the likely sanctions?
{Ed001's Note - because you were also in breach of FA regs, as well as Premier League regs. It is most likely to be another slap on the wrist, mainly financial penalty. One because they like to fill their coffers and secondly because they are not going to give a harsh penalty to someone self-reporting as they want to encourage others to do so in the future.}
30 Mar 2026 09:29:16
Thanks Ed. That is a very good point about encouraging self reporting.
{Ed001's Note - it is standard legal practice to encourage people to admit their breaches of the law, it makes things so much easier for everyone.}
30 Mar 2026 09:35:37
Thanks for the info ED01
{Ed001's Note - very welcome.}
30 Mar 2026 09:46:13
I wonder if City have admitted any breaches of the rules?
{Ed001's Note - no, they deny breaching anything. They will not admit to wrongdoing. They even claimed to have been found innocent of the UEFA breaches, when what actually happened was that the cases were time barred, so they were never able to be found guilty. It is not the same thing at all, the evidence was overwhelming, as it is in these cases. Even if you leave aside the evidence that was obtained illegally during the hack that lead to the football leaks site.}
30 Mar 2026 10:30:54
Thanks Ed, as I said in my original post, it will be interesting if they are found guilty of multiple breaches how much there non cooperation will be taken into account.
{Ed001's Note - they should be absolutely smashed for this. It is a massive amount of cheating over a long period of time. There is absolutely no reason for them to not be stripped of all titles and kicked out of the Premier League.}
30 Mar 2026 11:21:20
Thanks as always Ed. My sentiments exactly but I doubt there trophies will be taken from them.
{Ed001's Note - that should be the first thing but I agree with you, I doubt that will happen.}
30 Mar 2026 17:38:32
Ed001, they would probably do a Senegal and refuse to give them back.
{Ed001's Note - yeah, that is so true.}-