Chelsea have warned their staff about playing Fantasy Premier League after team news appeared to leak through the popular game.
The Blues are understandably keen to keep injury information and team selections under wraps, particularly with Xabi Alonso generally reluctant to reveal too much during his press conferences.
However, the club's efforts to keep things quiet have been undermined by activity on FPL, with Joao Pedro's absence against Tottenham last month identified before Chelsea officially announced their team.
It is a big problem for the club, and one that has now forced the them to take action.
Chelsea send warning to staff after Joao Pedro injury leak
According to BBC Sport, Chelsea have sent an email to staff reminding them to be careful when using Fantasy Premier League and other public gaming platforms.
The warning followed claims from several prominent FPL content creators on social media that they had spotted unusual activity involving accounts believed to belong to Chelsea staff and players.
Morgan Rogers and several club employees were reportedly among those who had removed Pedro from their fantasy teams before the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, despite Chelsea not yet announcing his injury.
The changes raised suspicions that the Brazilian would be unavailable, with the information leaking out before the official team news was released.
Alonso was asked about the situation after the defeat but admitted he was unaware of what had happened.
"I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn't know that," the Chelsea manager explained.
Chelsea are not expected to introduce a complete ban on FPL, with the club reportedly viewing the incident as an isolated issue that can be addressed internally.
However, it is another headache for a club that — like Manchester United — has already suffered several high-profile team news leaks in recent months.
Information coming out early has become ridiculous
This is not the first time Chelsea have struggled to keep information confidential.
During Liam Rosenior's short spell in charge last season, team selections were regularly leaked. Including ahead of both legs of their Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain; a fixture they eventually lost.
There was also the incident involving Marc Cucurella's barber, who revealed that Pedro and Cole Palmer would miss a match against Brighton after apparently discussing the situation with the former Chelsea defender.
The club have since taken steps to improve security around the training ground, but the latest incident shows that keeping team news under wraps requires more than just changes to their infrastructure.
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