Chelsea's 74 charges explained: What are they accused of? What punishment could they face?

It appears as though Chelsea could be in trouble. England's Football Association (FA) announced on Thursday that the Blues have been charged with 74 breaches of its rules relating to alleged agent payments.

The charges relate to the period 2009 to 2022 under Roman Abramovich's ownership, and are largely focused between 2010 and 2016. Chelsea have until Sept. 19 to respond, but what exactly are they accused of? Are there any parallels with Manchester City's long-running case with the Premier League? And what punishment could the reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions face if found guilty?

How did Chelsea get here?

A consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their £4.25 billion takeover of the club in May 2022. The takeover ended Abramovich's 19-year tenure in charge at Stamford Bridge and freed Chelsea from restrictions relating to sanctions imposed on their former owner for alleged ties to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

While undertaking their due diligence on the deal, the new ownership were alerted to what was described as "incomplete financial reporting" during the Abramovich era. And so the new ownership self-reported the various discrepancies to European football's governing body UEFA, the Premier League and the FA.

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In July 2023, Chelsea agreed to pay UEFA €10 million as a sanction for breaching UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations in transactions taking place between 2012 and 2019. The club were praised at the time by UEFA for "proactively" approaching them to tackle the issue.

Sources have told ESPN that the Premier League's investigation remains ongoing, while the FA has progressed the case to the point Chelsea must now decide whether to contest 74 counts of rule-breaking. A source close to the FA has told ESPN that the Sept. 19 deadline could be extended if they choose to fight back.

What exactly are Chelsea accused of?

The FA said in a statement: "The Football Association has today charged Chelsea FC with breaches of Regulations J1 and C2 of The FA Football Agents Regulations, Regulations A2 and A3 of The FA Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, and Regulations A1 and B3 of The FA Third Party Investment in Players Regulations."

The Football Agent Regulations stipulate that a club must not "use the services, either directly or indirectly, of an Unauthorised Agent in relation to any Agency Activity. A club must not directly or indirectly make any payments to any Unauthorised Agent in respect of any Agency Activity."

Furthermore, rule C2 states: "A Club, Player or Authorised Agent must not so arrange matters as to conceal or misrepresent the reality and/or substance of any matters in relation to a Transaction or Contract Negotiation."

The relevant rules on working with intermediaries focus on guarding against paying anyone acting as an intermediary who is not registered as such, or who is not acting under a valid intermediary contract.

Sources have told ESPN that central to the charges are alleged payments to persons through offshore companies. The transfer of Eden Hazard from Lille in June 2012 for a fee of around £34 million is said to be one transaction under scrutiny.

After the Belgium international had signed for Chelsea, then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson subsequently claimed that his club missed out on signing Hazard because of a large payment to an intermediary. "I see some values on players, like Hazard for instance," Ferguson said in July 2012. "To me it was a lot of money. He's a good player, but £34 million?

"What we're finding anyway, the climate for buying these top players -- not just the transfer fees, the salaries, agents' fees -- is just getting ridiculous now. In the Hazard deal, Chelsea paid the agent £6m."

A source has told ESPN that the 2013 deals that brought Willian and Samuel Eto'o to Chelsea from Anzhi Makhachkala are also being examined. Willian was on the brink of joining Tottenham Hotspur, even undergoing a medical at Spurs, before changing his mind.

The players in all three deals are not implicated in any wrongdoing.

A source has said the relevant tax matters have been settled with His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. It is also understood that the club also conducted their own internal investigation, which concluded that the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) would not have been breached during the period in question.

The charges focus heavily on the period between 2010 and 2016, in which time Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

So is this like Manchester City's ongoing case?

Sort of, in the sense that it too relates to historic issues spanning many years, but the circumstances in which they have developed are different. Chelsea self-reported problems under a previous ownership, whereas City's alleged breaches were exposed by German publication Der Spiegel and all relate to the current Abu Dhabi United Group's ownership.

City have been accused of a failure to comply with the Premier League's investigation and threatened further legal action, whereas Chelsea claim to have been fully engaged from the outset and throughout.

So what happens next, and how could they be punished?

The Blues have until Sept. 19 to respond, but a source has told ESPN they are not expected to contest the 74 charges. In a statement released on Thursday, the club said: "Chelsea FC is pleased to confirm that its engagement with The FA concerning matters that were self-reported by the club is now reaching a conclusion.

"The Club's ownership group completed its purchase of the club on 30 May 2022. During a thorough due diligence process prior to completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions and other potential breaches of FA rules.

"Immediately upon the completion of the purchase, the Club self-reported these matters to all relevant regulators, including The FA. The Club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the Club's files and historical data.

"We will continue working collaboratively with The FA to conclude this matter as swiftly as possible. We wish to place on record our gratitude to The FA for their engagement with the Club on this complex case, the focus of which has been on matters that took place over a decade ago."

An independent regulatory commission will be set up to hear the case and although the timescale for that process is unclear, Chelsea believe they are nearer the end of the process than the beginning.

It is possible that once the independent commission concludes its investigation, the club could face a sporting sanction -- specifically a points deduction or a transfer ban -- but a source says Chelsea are anticipating a fine in a similar conclusion to their case with UEFA.

Chelsea believe they have shown great transparency throughout the investigation, sharing files and co-operating with detailed requests. In addition to self-reporting in the first place, the fact there is now a new ownership unconnected with the alleged rule-breaking, and that most of the breaches took place a decade ago or more, the Blues are hopeful these mitigating factors will work in their favour. Time will tell if they are right.