Jordan brands Chelsea 'bigger and worse offenders' than City after Premier League guilty verdict

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has branded Chelsea ‘bigger and worse offenders’ than Manchester City, questioning why the Blues have attracted far less public fury despite admitting to financial violations that resulted in a £10.75m fine and a suspended one-year first-team transfer ban earlier this year.

Jordan’s comments came in the wake of Manchester City being found guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League charges brought against them — a verdict City deny and have appealed.

Speaking on Piers Morgan’s Sports Uncensored, Jordan argued that Chelsea’s early spending under Roman Abramovich gave the club an unfair head start before financial restrictions were tightened, and that their subsequent rule-breaking made the disparity in public reaction difficult to justify. “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,” he said. “Why isn’t there real rage about Chelsea? Chelsea were allowed to do what Man City were never allowed to do.”

Chelsea’s violations centred on £47.5m worth of undisclosed payments made between 2011 and 2018 by third-party entities linked to Abramovich, for the club’s benefit. According to The Times, the payments were connected to deals involving Eden Hazard, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, André Schürrle, Nemanja Matic and Samuel Eto’o, as well as three unnamed players. Payments were also reportedly made to former director of football Frank Arnesen and scout Piet de Visser.

Alongside the fine and suspended transfer ban, Chelsea received an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a separate £750,000 fine for breaches connected to youth player registrations. The club’s self-reporting and cooperation with the investigation were taken into account when penalties were determined.

The Premier League concluded that Chelsea would not have breached its profitability and sustainability rules even had the undisclosed payments been properly declared, a finding that limited the severity of the sporting sanctions imposed.

Abramovich bought Chelsea from Ken Bates in 2003, and his investment fuelled a period of sustained dominance that produced 21 trophies, including five Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns. Jordan’s argument is that the financial advantage gained during that era — and the rule-breaking that followed — has not been subjected to the same level of scrutiny as City’s conduct, despite the scale of the admitted violations.