Chelsea email their staff after the Brazilian striker’s injury was leaked through Fantasy Premier League before the Spurs defeat

Chelsea have warned their staff to be careful with Fantasy Premier League after Joao Pedro’s injury appeared to be given away through team selections before last month’s defeat by Tottenham.

According to BBC Sport, an email went round reminding staff of the consequences of using inside information on FPL or any other public gaming platform, where the players someone picks or drops can show who is injured or close to a return.

It comes after Joao Pedro was a surprise absentee for the 2-0 home defeat by Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, with what has since turned out to be a quad injury. Chelsea had made no announcement about it before kick-off.

What happened with Joao Pedro and FPL?

Several big FPL content creators claimed to have seen evidence that Morgan Rogers, along with several members of Chelsea staff, had taken the Brazilian out of their fantasy teams before the game. FPL players are said to have dropped him as a result.

Rogers, the £117m summer signing, plays alongside Pedro in Chelsea’s front line. The striker had made a flying start, with five goals and three assists in his first six league games, before the injury.

He has not played since, and Chelsea have badly missed him. They lost 1-0 at Sunderland on Sunday, creating very little in front of goal, as we covered in our Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea report. He could return after the international break.

What did Xabi Alonso say?

Not much, because he did not know about it. Asked by BBC Sport after the Spurs defeat, the head coach said: “I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn’t know that.”

That fits with how Alonso works. Since arriving in the summer, the 44-year-old has been guarded when asked about injuries in his press conferences, which is exactly why a leak through an FPL app is so frustrating. His most recent injury update came before the Sunderland game, on Moises Caicedo’s fitness.

Will Chelsea ban FPL?

No. The club see this as an isolated case and do not expect to bring in any further restrictions. The aim is simply to make players and staff more aware of what their teams can give away.

Not the first leak at Chelsea

Chelsea have had problems with leaks before. During Liam Rosenior’s four-month spell in charge last season, team selections got out before both legs of the Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain.

Then there was the barber. Marc Cucurella’s barber revealed on social media that Pedro and Cole Palmer would miss a trip to Brighton last season, after chatting about it with the defender.

The Grealish case

It is not only a Chelsea problem. The most famous FPL leak came in February 2021, when Aston Villa players and staff transferred Jack Grealish out of their teams before a game against Leicester City. Grealish missed it, Leicester won, and Brendan Rodgers later said he had been aware of the rumours beforehand.

More than 11 million people are said to play FPL. The Premier League has strict rules on gambling but gives clubs no specific guidance on whether their players and staff should play the game, so it is left to each club to manage.

Verdict: a sensible warning, not an overreaction

Chelsea have gone about this the right way. Banning FPL outright would be heavy-handed for what looks like a careless moment, but an email reminding everyone that their team is public is the least they could do.

For a head coach who keeps injury news close to his chest, it must have been strange to find that the internet knew about Pedro before the club had said a word. With the forward hopefully back after the break, the bigger worry for Alonso is getting goals back into this side, as the defeat at Sunderland showed.