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Roman Abramovich could now land Chelsea with devastating blow - 'if these documents are true...', says Kieran Maguire
The allegations against former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will ‘cast a shadow’ over the club’s recent success and could destroy his legacy.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Blues could face the same criticism as Manchester City for their Financial Fair Play charges.
As reported by The Guardian, leaked documents from Chelsea reveal secret payments worth tens of millions that could breach the Premier League’s financial regulations.
The alleged payments were made under the ownership of Roman Abramovich towards beneficiaries such as Eden Hazard’s agent and an associate of former Blues boss Antonio Conte.
Chelsea are already being investigated by the Premier League after they self-reported “incomplete financial information” submitted during Abramovich’s tenure.
If found guilty of breaches, Chelsea could face a points deduction similar to the 10-point penalty given to Everton this week, or potentially worse, which could lead to the cataclysmic blow of Premier League relegation.
Maguire believes the new allegations could place an asterisk above Chelsea’s success under Abramovich the same way Man City’s titles have been called into question since they were charged with 115 breaches.
“Roman Abramovich didn’t like the idea of Manchester City becoming a rival and he wasn’t overly keen on the rise of Liverpool,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“If we take a look at when some of these alleged transactions took place, it was around the period of Antonio Conte being at the club.
“It involved the recruitment of players like Eden Hazard and Arjen Robben.
“Chelsea clearly wanted to show that they were within the limits of Financial Fair Play and if you want to beat the system you either artificially inflate income or you artificially deflate costs.
“If these documents are true, it could be concluded that Chelsea have parked costs offshore.
“They reaped the reward because they won the Premier League under Conte.
“So this could cast a shadow over their success the same as Man City and the criticism aimed toward them.
“We will have to wait to see the response of the Premier League and the FA because they could be in breach of both sets of rules.“
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