Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso admitted surprise after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, denying knowledge that João Pedro’s injury was exposed via Fantasy Premier League.
He replied, “I don’t follow fantasy football, so I wasn’t aware.”
FPL analysts flagged accounts linked to Chelsea staff, a player and a relative who appeared to bench or transfer out João Pedro before the deadline.
A manager called FPL Karim claimed he spotted the leak by monitoring a relative’s picks for Chelsea winger Morgan Rogers.
“Rumors suggested a forward was absent,” he wrote. “I checked Rogers’ squad and saw João Pedro dropped two‑three weeks earlier while injured, never re‑added.”
Looking at the brother’s roster, I noticed João Pedro swapped for Nicolas Jackson that week—odd, since he’s a top‑owned striker. Why discard him?
That clue led me to suspect João Pedro’s absence; I posted the theory, it went viral, and the story spread.
Another user, FPL Joe, claimed multiple Chelsea staff members made identical roster tweaks in the game.
The injury was confirmed post‑deadline, after 1.7 million managers had already named João Pedro captain, doubling his potential points.
Fans were shocked by his missing from the 2‑0 loss to Tottenham, especially after he’d been seen training the week prior.
Alonso later explained João Pedro sat out due to “fluid on his thigh.”
He joins several managers now tightening lips on injury updates during press briefings. In my view, clubs must treat information security as a competitive priority.
Last month he remarked, “I prefer to share only what’s necessary.”
That caution preceded a 3‑0 defeat at Brentford, with multiple injuries—including João Pedro’s—kept hidden.
With over 11 million participants, Fantasy Premier League draws not just fans but also club staff, players and their families.
Mining the open participant database lets observers link leagues or teams to insiders and infer behind‑the‑scenes developments.
The most notorious prior leak centered on Jack Grealish missing Aston Villa’s February 2021 clash with Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers confessed he’d heard the rumor pre‑match, and Dean Smith allegedly barred club members from FPL after the 2‑1 loss.
Pep Guardiola later labeled the practice “unethical and unprofessional.”
Subsequent claims allege Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Newcastle insiders altered their FPL squads to signal injuries.
While leaks flood social feeds, elite FPL managers sometimes hoard tips within tight circles to boost their rankings.
“The leaderboard is open, making player searches easy; confirming an account truly belongs to a player requires extra effort,” one analyst noted.
During Liam Rosenior’s brief spell, Chelsea endured three major news leaks.
Two leaks preceded each leg of the 8‑2 aggregate loss to PSG, and a third surfaced before Rosenior’s last match.
Astonishingly, Marc Cucurella’s barber disclosed that Cole Palmer and João Pedro were sidelined with injuries.
Since then, the club has warned players to guard match‑day intel.
Security upgrades now encircle the first‑team pitches with new fencing.
Though Chelsea seemed to have curbed leaks earlier, the João Pedro case proves secrets can surface unexpectedly.
Teams may counsel staff on discretion and even discourage picking their own club, though an outright ban would be extreme.
No universal rule bars sport insiders from FPL; the Premier League leaves such disputes to individual clubs.
Still, any safeguards will face practical limits.
Clubs may steer staff, but tracking friends and relatives proves far tougher.