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Chelsea have issued a statement in response to being issued a record-breaking fine and transfer ban for historical rule breaches.
As confirmed by the Premier League, the Blues have been fined £10.75million, the biggest financial punishment ever dished out by the league, while also being handed "an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a suspended one-year first-team player transfer ban (suspended for two years)".
Their club statement in response read: "Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that the club has reached a settlement with the Premier League in relation to historical regulatory matters that were self-reported by the club in 2022.
"As previously announced, the club voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago.
"During an extensive Premier League investigation, the club proactively disclosed many thousands of documents. Also, when requests for information were made by the Premier League, the club promptly provided comprehensive responses and facilitated all lines of inquiry to support a complex and extremely thorough process.
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"Furthermore, during the investigation, additional evidence was provided to the club by a third party regarding potential breaches of Premier League rules committed by a former employee in a small number of historical academy transactions. This information was immediately and proactively self-reported to the Premier League.
The club wishes to make clear that following robust financial analysis by the Premier League, it was concluded that 'in no scenario would the club have exceeded the maximum allowable loss of £105 million over the three-year assessment period in the Rules.'
"Accordingly there is no scenario in which the club could have been in breach of the applicable limits in the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules during the applicable seasons historically.
"From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.
"The club welcomes the recognition from the Premier League of its 'exceptional cooperation' and that 'without those voluntary disclosures and the act of self-reporting, a number of the Premier League rule breaches may never have come to the attention of the League'.
"The club accepts the terms of the settlement in full, details of which have been published on the Premier League website.
"For clarity, the nine-month restriction on registering Academy players applies immediately, but only to Academy players who have previously been registered with another League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months. It does not apply to current Chelsea players, international players or players who are applying for their first registration at Under 9.
"We are pleased that the matter is now concluded.
"For full details of the terms of the settlement agreement please refer to the Premier League website here."
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