An exclusive from Football Insider published today claims that Chelsea “could” get an update on potential charges from the Premier League “before the start of the new season.”
It’s been known for some time that the league are looking in to payments made during Roman Abramovich’s ownership, but no timescale has ever been put on it. This rather vague claim from Pete O’Rourke continues a steady line from him that something is in the pipeline.
It’s hard to be wrong predicting that – they will have to announce something eventually – but they’re certainly taking their time.
A ticking time bomb
We know Chelsea broke the rules – they admitted it and sent the Premier League the evidence. That will be one of the factors working in their favour. Given they’ve confessed, it seems likely that there is some sort of charge, but whether it ends up being a fine or a points penalty is the real question.
Both Nottingham Forest and Everton had points deducted this season, and the Premier League won’t want to be seen as having double standards when dealing with different clubs (although the charges will be different).
Equally, the reaction to those charges were that they were excessive, and it already seems as though a lighter course is being pursued and planned for future punishments. Despite having voted for it, the clubs seem to have decided they don’t actually want to be punished.
For us, a heavy fine looks like it will be the final decision. The combination of the fact that we self reported, that the rule-breaches were under a previous ownership, and that there’s a general trend towards leniency means that things are trending that way.
On the other hand the big penalties given out this season surprised everyone – so we could be surprised again.
