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The former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has accused Chelsea of being 'bigger offenders' than Manchester City
Simon Jordan has extraordinarily accused Chelsea of being 'bigger and worse offenders' than Manchester City, arguing the Blues broke financial rules despite already benefiting from Roman Abramovich's spending before tighter restrictions were introduced. His comments come after City were found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League.
City deny wrongdoing and have appealed against the ruling. Meanwhile, Chelsea became one of English football's dominant forces after Abramovich bought the club from Ken Bates in 2003, with heavy investment helping them win back-to-back Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho.
The Blues won 21 trophies during Abramovich's ownership, including five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues. However, Chelsea later admitted breaches involving undisclosed payments during his ownership.
Earlier this year, the club were fined £10.75million and handed a suspended one-year first-team transfer ban over those breaches. Chelsea also received an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a separate £750,000 fine for breaches relating to youth player registrations.
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The financial breaches involved £47.5m in undisclosed payments made between 2011 and 2018 by third-party entities associated with Abramovich, for Chelsea's benefit. The Times reported that the payments related to deals involving Eden Hazard, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle, Nemanja Matic and Samuel Eto'o, alongside three unnamed players.
Payments were reportedly also made to former director of football Frank Arnesen and scout Piet de Visser. Chelsea's self-reporting and cooperation were taken into account when determining the sanctions.
The Premier League also concluded that the club would not have breached its profitability and sustainability rules even if the undisclosed payments had been properly included in their financial submissions.
Jordan argued that their early spending under Abramovich gave them an advantage before financial restrictions tightened. He believes their subsequent rule-breaking deserves greater scrutiny, questioning why City have attracted more anger.
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Speaking on Piers Morgan's Sports Uncensored, he said: "If you believe in fairness and Man City's team have been assembled in an unfair way, but the interesting thing for me is that if you introduce unjust rules - don't be surprised when people behave unjustly.
"Why there is real rage about Chelsea? Chelsea were allowed to do what Man City were never allowed to do and yet, six years after they were allowed into the room, they still cheated.
"So Chelsea got in the room, got to spend what they want, Man City come along and then people went 'no, you can't come in, we're going to shut the door now.'
"But Chelsea were already in that room and five years later, they're still cheating. So Chelsea actually are bigger offender and worse offenders than Man City. Because Man City weren't ever allowed to be in the room and they've had to cheat to get in the room.
"So when you think about it in those terms, start getting some ire about Chelsea as well."
Chelsea have been approached for comment by football.london.