Arsenal and Tottenham await Chelsea points deduction decision amid shock Premier League call

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and the rest of the Premier League are closely monitoring Chelsea’s current situation regarding potential Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches.

The Guardian and an international media group, including the Bureau for Journalism (TBIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, launched a joint investigation which uncovered a series of payments totaling tens of millions of pounds over a decade of to the former owner Roman.

Abramovic’s time at Stamford Bridge.
The payments were “passed through an offshore vehicle” owned by a Russian billionaire and the transactions were believed to benefit the Blues, raising questions about whether authorities knew about the accounts.

According to The Guardian, “four leading sports lawyers” said some of the payments could breach UEFA’s Premier League and FFP rules, while football finance expert Kieran Maguire said there would be fewer financial penalties or fines.

It’s more likely than not to drop points.
“If there is evidence that a club has used third-party transactions to circumvent profitability and sustainability rules, there will be financial penalties or point deductions,” he said. The latter is more likely, as the commission investigating the situation at the club wants to prevent others from repeating such behaviour’.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s side are 10th in the Premier League with 16 points from their first 10 games. The Blues are already 10 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, 11 behind Arsenal and Liverpool and 12 behind leaders Manchester City.

City themselves were charged by the Premier League earlier this year with a total of 115 suspected breaches of the top flight’s financial rules. The alleged breaches cover a period from the 2009/10 campaign to the 2017/18 season.