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Premier League confirm punishment after £5m Liverpool transfer with fine and ban decided
Fulham have been hit with a £75,000 fine and a suspended six-month ban on registering academy players after admitting they breached Premier League rules by arranging unlawful payments to Fabio Carvalho's former club following his move to Liverpool in 2022.
The 21-year-old, currently on loan at Hull City, joined Fulham in December 2014 from Balham Blazers. However, when he moved to Craven Cottage the Whites arranged a 'head of terms' agreement with the amateur side in October 2015, which is against Premier League rules.
As part of the agreement, Balham Blazers would be entitled to payments when Carvalho made his first start for Fulham and if he agreed a transfer away from the club, as he did in July 2022 when he joined Liverpool for £5m plus add-ons.
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After Carvalho started his first Premier League game in May 2021, the Cottagers notified the English Football League of their agreement with Balham Blazers, as they had been relegated from the Premier League. The Football Association were also consulted on how to proceed with the agreement.
After guidance from the FA, in October 2021 Fulham agreed on a new compensation package with Balham Blazers, honouring the same terms as those agreed in 2015. However, the agreement was sent to the FA and EFL, not the Premier League due to Fulham's relegation earlier that year.
On Tuesday, the Premier League revealed that after Carvalho's move to Liverpool, Balham Blazers requested a payment from Fulham under the terms of the 2015 agreement. Under Premier League rules though, Balham Blazers are not a "transferor club" and therefore were not entitled to any form of payment unless "agreed by the Premier League board".
Fulham twice made applications to the Premier League, first in December 2022 and then in January 2024, for the agreement with Balham Blazers to be honoured but both requests were rejected. Consequently, Fulham have accepted that a settlement payment following Carvalho's transfer to Liverpool in 2022 fell foul of the Premier League's regulations.
As a result, a three-person independent judicial panel agreed to fine Fulham £75,000 and issue a six-month ban, suspended for a year, on signing academy players from other teams.
"The Premier League and Fulham FC have entered into a sanction agreement following the club’s accepted breaches of the Premier League Rules in relation to player registrations," read a Premier League statement on Tuesday.
"The club will face a six-month ban (suspended for one year) from registering any academy players currently or previously registered with another club and will pay a £75,000 fine. The suspended registrations ban commenced on 15 April 2024."
