Chelsea's Xabi Alonso was unaware Joao Pedro's injury had been leaked through Fantasy Premier League (FPL) before their 2-0 loss to Tottenham. FPL trackers identified accounts they believe belong to Chelsea staff, a player, and a relative of Morgan Rogers, who sold Joao Pedro before the deadline. FPL Karim noticed Rogers' brother had transferred out Joao Pedro and brought in Nicolas Jackson, raising suspicions.
The injury was confirmed post-deadline, affecting 1.7m managers who had selected Joao Pedro as captain. Alonso now limits media disclosures, echoing past incidents like Jack Grealish's 2021 leak and Pep Guardiola's criticism of such practices as 'unethical'. With over 11m participants, FPL's public leaderboard enables tracking club-linked accounts, prompting clubs to restrict involvement.
Experts like FPL Focal note players increasingly use aliases to evade detection, though verification remains challenging.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing