Manchester City and Chelsea have both come under scrutiny for circumventing football regulations through undisclosed payments and complex financial arrangements, according to recent investigations and rulings.

Chelsea, under Roman Abramovich’s ownership beginning in 2003, embarked on significant player spending that intensified after Sheikh Mansour’s acquisition of Manchester City in 2008. An inquiry into Chelsea’s activities during the period from 2011 to 2018 revealed that the club employed a sophisticated payment system involving five offshore companies—four registered in the British Virgin Islands and one in Panama—to channel tens of millions of pounds to players, agents, and intermediaries. These payments were designed to facilitate the signings of several high-profile players, including Eden Hazard, Willian, and Samuel Eto’o.

Notably, Hazard’s agent received approximately €6.55 million through seven payments to a Dubai-based company. In addition, off-the-books transfers associated with Willian and Eto’o, both sourced from the Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, involved two British Virgin Islands entities and amounted to €24 million. These payments, eventually linked to individuals connected with Chelsea, were disclosed only after Chelsea’s 2022 change in ownership. Following investigations by the Premier League, the Football Association (FA), and UEFA, Chelsea was fined a combined total of £29.35 million, with penalties of £10.75 million, £10 million, and £8.6 million respectively. Because the infractions occurred under previous ownership, the club faced fines rather than more severe sanctions.

Manchester City’s case, meanwhile, involves an independent commission finding the club guilty of the majority of 130 charges levied by the Premier League. The charges center on secret payments engineered to bypass established rules, including a clandestine contract granting former manager Roberto Mancini a consultancy role with Al Jazira, Manchester City’s sister club based in Abu Dhabi. Additional allegations concern undisclosed payments linked to players’ image rights, including sums paid to an offshore company owned by the agent of former captain Yaya Touré.

Further concerns focus on the club’s sponsorship income between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The investigation concluded that a substantial portion of these revenues stemmed not from genuine sponsors but from Manchester City’s owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, effectively disguising owner funding as commercial income.

Both clubs’ cases highlight the ongoing challenges faced by football authorities in enforcing financial regulations amid increasingly complex ownership structures and payment mechanisms designed to obscure the true sources and destinations of funds within professional football.