November 10: Chelsea have reminded staff to be careful with their Fantasy Premier League squads after João Pedro’s injury appeared to seep through the team changes ahead of the defeat to Tottenham.
A number of FPL content creators said they had seen Morgan Rogers and some Chelsea insiders pull Pedro out of their fantasy squads ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge, with the club failing to announce his quad injury. Chelsea lost 2-0.
Since then, an email has reminded staff of the consequences of using insider information on public gaming platforms.
“I don’t like the fantasy team, so I didn’t know,” coach Xabo Alonso told BBC Sport. Considering the manager has taken a lot of injury care since he arrived in the summer, it must be frustrating to see information leave the building via a points-scoring app.
It is not the first leak of the club. Under Liam Rosenior last season, team selections emerged ahead of the Champions League defeat to PSG. And former defender Marc Cucurella’s barber revealed on social media that Pedro and Cole Palmer would miss out on a trip to Brighton after chatting to his client in the chair.
Chelsea see the FPL episode as isolated and do not plan further restrictions.
They are hardly alone. FPL supporters have linked accounts with players and staff from Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Newcastle. The most famous case occurred in February 2021, when Jack Grealish’s absence for Aston Villa against Leicester was flagged by fantasy managers before the game. Brendan Rodgers later admitted he had heard the rumours. Leicester won.
More than 11 million people play the game. Although players have a strict betting ban, the Premier League does not give clubs any specific guidance on FPL, leaving it up to each club to manage.