Chelsea warn staff over Fantasy Premier League team-news leaks

Chelsea have reminded staff to take care not to reveal team news through Fantasy Premier League selections, after Joao Pedro’s injury appeared to be disclosed before the club announced it. The club regards the episode as isolated and is not expected to introduce further restrictions, BBC Sport reports.

An email to staff highlighted the possible consequences of using inside information on Fantasy Premier League and other public gaming platforms. Changes to a team can indicate that a player is unavailable or close to returning.

The reminder followed Pedro’s absence from Chelsea’s 2-0 home defeat by Tottenham. His quad injury emerged after the match. Fantasy Premier League content creators said they had seen evidence that forward Morgan Rogers and several Chelsea staff members removed Pedro from their teams before kick-off, despite no club announcement about the injury.

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso told BBC Sport he was unaware of the situation, saying: “I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn’t know that.”

Chelsea have had other team-news leaks. Last season, selections emerged before both legs of their Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain. The club also learned that former defender Marc Cucurella’s barber had posted that Pedro and Cole Palmer would miss a match against Brighton after discussing it with Cucurella.

The Premier League has no specific guidance for clubs on whether people involved in football should play Fantasy Premier League, although it has strict rules prohibiting gambling. Clubs generally handle the issue themselves. More than 11 million people are said to play the game, which has become a prominent part of football culture.