Chelsea in talks to settle secret payments case without points deduction
Exclusive by Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter - Wednesday January 15 2025, 5.00pm GMT, The Times
Chelsea are in negotiations with the Premier League to agree a financial settlement for secret payments related to transfers made during Roman Abramovich’s ownership.
卻爾西正與英超談判，就阿布拉莫維奇擁有期間的轉會相關秘密付款達成財務和解。
The club are understood to be in talks over a financial settlement rather than a sporting sanction such as a points deduction, on the basis that the new owners discovered the payments during the May 2022 takeover process and reported them to the Premier League and Uefa.
據了解，該俱樂部正就財務和解進行談判，而不是扣除積分等體育制裁，因為新擁有者在 2022 年 5 月的收購過程中發現了這些付款，並將其報告給了英超和歐足聯。
The outcome of the negotiations is expected before the end of March, with the club confident there can be an agreement similar to the £8.6million financial settlement made with Uefa in July 2023.
談判的結果預計將在 3 月底前公佈，俱樂部有信心可以達成類似於 2023 年 7 月與歐足聯達成的 860 萬英鎊財務和解的協議。
The Times revealed in 2023 that the Premier League was investigating alleged irregular payments related to Willian and Samuel Eto’o being signed by Chelsea in 2013. Payments connected to the signing of Eden Hazard in 2012 have also been under investigation.
泰晤士報在 2023 年透露，英超正調查與卻爾西 2013 年簽下威廉和埃托奧有關的涉嫌違規付款，2012 年簽下哈扎德有關的付款也正在接受調查。
Normally secret payments related to transfers would lead to tough sanctions such as points deductions but Chelsea have argued that any rule breaches took place under a different ownership ten years ago, and indeed the payments would not have been revealed and reported had it not been for the new owners’ due diligence process.
通常情況下，與轉會相關的秘密付款會導致嚴厲的制裁，例如扣分，但卻爾西辯稱，任何違反規則的行為都是在十年前由不同的擁有者進行的，事實上，如果不是透過新擁有者的盡職調查，這些付款不會被披露和報告。
The Premier League’s rulebook allows for a “sanction agreement” between its board and a club, which must then be ratified by the league’s Judicial Panel. Sanction agreements could include a points deduction but Chelsea are understood to be insistent that, as with Uefa, any financial payment would be a settlement rather than a sanction.
英超的規則手冊允許其董事會和俱樂部之間達成 “制裁協定”，然後必須得到聯盟司法小組的批准。制裁協定可能包括扣分，但據了解，卻爾西堅持認為，與歐足聯一樣，任何財務支付都將是和解，而不是制裁。
A source with knowledge of the negotiations said talks were continuing and that the case involved events that took place many years before Todd Boehly and Clearlake, Chelsea’s owners, were involved with the club, and that it was their work that had brought the irregular payments to light.
一位了解談判的消息來源表示，談判仍在繼續，此案涉及在卻爾西老闆伯利和清湖資本收購俱樂部前多年發生的事件，正是他們的工作使不正常付款被曝光。
Although the case is not related to recent Profitability and Sustainability Rules, if the outcome is a financial settlement that could raise eyebrows among fans of other clubs given that Everton and Nottingham Forest received points deductions last season for breaching the limit of permitted losses.
儘管此案與最近的盈利能力和可持續性規則（PSR）無關，但如果結果是財務和解，這可能會引起其他俱樂部球迷的注意，因為埃佛頓和諾丁漢森林上賽季因違反允許的虧損限制而被扣分。
In August, the Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, said the investigation was “reaching a conclusion”, adding that: “What we are talking about is something historic.”
去年 8 月，英超執行長理查．馬斯特斯表示調查 “正在得出結論”，並補充說： “我們正在談論的是歷史事件。”
Leaked documents obtained by The Guardian in 2023 appeared to show that the former Chelsea director, Marina Granovskaia, was sent copies of agreements related to payments around the transfers of Willian, Eto’o and Hazard. Granovskaia, a 50-year-old Russian-Canadian who previously worked as an aide for Abramovich, has previously declined to comment, saying she was “not available”. She did not respond to follow-up messages.
衛報在 2023 年獲得的外流檔案似乎顯示，前卻爾西董事瑪麗娜．格拉諾夫斯卡婭收到了與威廉、埃托奧和哈扎德轉會相關的付款協定副本。50 歲的俄羅斯裔加拿大人格拉諾夫斯卡婭曾是阿布拉莫維奇的助手，此前曾拒絕置評，聲稱 “與她無關”，她沒有回覆後續資訊。
Financial records indicate the transfers of the Brazilian midfielder Willian and the Cameroon striker Eto’o from the Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2013 involved payments made to Russian entities that were separate to any transfer fee.
財務記錄顯示，2013 年 8 月巴西中場威廉和喀麥隆前鋒埃托奧從俄羅斯俱樂部安郅的轉會涉及向俄羅斯實體支付的款項，而這些款項與任何轉會費無關。
Anzhi signed Willian for £30million from Shakhtar Donetsk in February 2013, and then sold him to Chelsea for the same amount in August that year. Eto’o joined Chelsea on a free transfer a day afterwards. There is no suggestion either player had any knowledge of separate payments.
安郅在 2013 年 2 月以 3000 萬英鎊的價格從頓涅茲克礦工簽下了威廉，然後在同年 8 月以相同的價格將他賣給了卻爾西，一天後，埃托奧以自由轉會的方式加盟卻爾西，沒有跡象表明這兩名球員知道這些單獨付款。
Chelsea’s owners held back £150million of the purchase price from Abramovich to cover potential sanctions from the investigation.
卻爾西的擁有者們從阿布拉莫維奇那裡扣留了 1.5 億英鎊的購買金額，以支付調查可能帶來的制裁。
The accounts of the club’s holding company Blue Co stated: “The holdback reduction amount is defined as an amount of all losses incurred by any member of the Group resulting from any proceeding in relation to events which took place before the acquisition date, up to the value of £150million.
俱樂部控股公司 Blue Co 的帳目指出： “扣留減少金額的定義是集團任何成員因與收購日前發生事件有關的任何過程而遭受的所有損失，最高價值為 1.5 億英鎊。”
“The Group self-reported to relevant football authorities certain legal matters concerning historical football transactions. Depending on the outcome, there could be future liabilities that cannot be quantified as at the date of these financial statements.”
“集團向相關足球當局自行報告了有關歷史足球交易的某些法律事項。根據結果，這可能會成為未來無法被量化的虧空，基於財務報表的日期。
In a 2023 statement, Chelsea referred to “potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions during the club’s previous ownership” that had been flagged up during the takeover process, and that they were “proactively” assisting the investigations.
在 2023 年的一份聲明中，卻爾西提到了在收購過程中被標記的 “關於俱樂部前所有權期間歷史交易潛在的不完整財務報告”，他們正 “積極的” 協助調查。
The statement said: “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership. They concern entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club. Immediately following the completion of the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these matters to all applicable football regulators.”
聲明說： “這些指控早於俱樂部目前的擁有權，它們涉及據稱由俱樂部前擁有者控制的實體，與目前俱樂部的任何個人無關。在完成收購後，俱樂部立即主動向所有適用的足球監管機構自行報告了這些事項。”
Chelsea and the Premier League declined to comment.
卻爾西和英超聯賽拒絕置評。
Exclusive: Chelsea talks to settle ‘secret payments’ case from Abramovich era with cash — not points deductionhttps://t.co/DAiqGupYrq
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) January 15, 2025
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阿布留下來的爛攤子，清湖自己扛吧。
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