Chelsea has told its staff to be careful not to leak private team news through Fantasy Premier League. This warning comes after concerns that the injury of forward Joao Pedro was revealed before the club made a public announcement.
A report by BBC Sport on Monday said the club sent an email to staff. The email reminded everyone of the risks involved in using inside information for Fantasy Premier League and other public gaming platforms.
The warning followed claims that Pedro's absence from Chelsea’s squad during their 2-0 loss to Tottenham was leaked through Fantasy Premier League team selections before the match.
Pedro was a surprising no-show at Stamford Bridge due to a quad injury, which the club later confirmed. Several popular Fantasy Premier League content creators said they saw proof that Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers and some Chelsea staff had taken Pedro out of their fantasy teams before kick-off, even though no official injury announcement had been made.
When BBC Sport asked Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso about the alleged leak after the match, he said he was not aware of it. "I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn’t know that," he replied.
Since joining Chelsea in the summer, Alonso, 44, has mostly been careful when discussing injury issues in media conferences, according to the report. The club has had other cases where confidential team information was leaked.
Last season, during former manager Liam Rosenior's four-month time in charge, Chelsea’s team selections were leaked before both legs of their Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. The report also mentioned an incident with former Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella. His barber shared on social media that Pedro and Cole Palmer would miss a trip to Brighton last season after talking about it with his client.
Despite this, Chelsea is not planning to put more limits on staff playing Fantasy Premier League. The club believes the latest incident is a one-time issue that can be fixed by raising awareness among players and staff.
BBC Sport also reported other similar cases involving players from Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester City, and Newcastle United making revealing changes to their fantasy teams. One of the biggest cases involved former Aston Villa forward Jack Grealish. His absence from the squad before a February 2021 match against Leicester City was reportedly revealed through Fantasy Premier League activity.
Leicester’s then-manager, Brendan Rodgers, later said he had heard rumors about Grealish’s injury absence before the match, which his team won. More than 11 million people are said to play Fantasy Premier League, which has become a big part of football culture.
Even with the Premier League's strict rules against gambling, there are no specific guidelines for clubs on how players and staff should engage with Fantasy Premier League. This issue is usually left for each club to manage.
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