Chelsea 74 charges latest as UEFA ban chances explained and fresh punishment verdict given

Worry amongst Chelsea fans may be growing around the 74 charges levelled at them by the FA.

The charges, which date back throughout Roman Abramovich's reign and pre-date the takeover from the BlueCo consortium, are related to alleged rule breaches concerning agents, intermediaries and third party investment. It's hoped by the Chelsea board any potential punishment will be lenient, as the current directors self-reported the issues to the relevant governing bodies.

The west Londoners are not the first club to go out of their way to flag any potential breaches to the governing bodies. In 2019, Italian giants AC Milan struck a deal with UEFA after the Serie A heavyweights were initially given a two-year ban from European football for breaching Financial Fair Play rules between 2015 and 2017.

The ban was halved after the Rossoneri confirmed they would take a "voluntary acceptance" of the ban, which was accepted by UEFA. When it comes to Chelsea's situation, a ban from European football is all but ruled out, due to the Blues paying £8m in a settlement with UEFA, according to the Telegraph.

Despite the differences, football finance expert Kieran Maguire compared Chelsea's cooperation with UEFA with Milan's predicament, explaining how it could help the west Londoners get a more favourable punishment.

When asked if any other club has self-reported themselves to the authorities in the same way as Chelsea, Maguire told talkSPORT: "If we take the case of Nottingham Forest, they cooperated with the Premier League when there was an investigation into a potential breach of PSR (Profit and Sustainability rules).

"We have seen other clubs, I believe AC Milan reported themselves to UEFA a couple of years ago when they felt there was a breach of PSR. Their ban from the competition was reduced from two years to one year.

"It's a bit like if I do something wrong and I hand myself in at the police station. That will be deemed to be mitigation, that will be deemed to be part of cooperation and that can reduce any potential later penalties which will be concluded by some form of commission."

The feelings around Chelsea's potential punishment were also echoed by former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan. When asked if the Blues board may feel hard done by, Jordan shared his verdict on a potential punishment on his talkSPORT show, saying: "So, what will the consequences be? I will assume financial.

"Chelsea is Chelsea. They haven't been folded down and turned into something else, and come back completely different. It occupies the same space, it's the same football club, it just has a different owner.

"So, everyone has to take the consequences of the actions of the previous regime. Boehly and his gang volunteered this information, they will have provided for it in their purchase price, so they will hold back some money from the Abramovich situation.

"Where that money is, no one knows. It seems to be sat in the ether, doesn't it? That money hasn't been released, so there will be some sort of contingency in there that's held back. So if it's financial, it won't cost Boehly and his guys anything, it will cost Roman Abramovich something, or where that money was due to go."

The Blues have until September 19 to respond to the FA's charges, but reports from ESPN understand it's unlikely Chelsea will contest the decision.

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