The sale of the club, announced by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich last week, cannot go ahead as planned as the British government announced on Thursday that the Russian billionaire’s assets would be frozen.
Abramovich is being sanctioned for his association with Russian President Vladimir Putin and business ties with several oligarchs. The measures follow the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin regarding two weeks ago.
“Abramovich is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and threatening the country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, namely Vladimir Putin,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Abramovich can no longer make money from the club. A sale of the club is only allowed if the proceeds benefit neither Abramovich nor Russia. Even the sale of tickets for the upcoming games may no longer take place. Only season ticket holders are allowed to play home games.
From now on, the Blues are no longer allowed to be active on the transfer market, even contract extensions and the sale of fan articles are not permitted. For this reason, the fan shop was also closed on Thursday. Even a stop to the game was in the room, but Boris Johnson’s government prevented this with a special license.
Chelsea: Special license allows the game to continue
This allows Chelsea to “continue to play football matches and engage in other football-related activities to protect the Premier League, the football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs,” it said in a statement. The club has also commented on the regulations and confirmed the special license that allows the club to “continue certain activities”.
The men’s team’s games scheduled for Thursday are taking place in Norwich, as well as the women’s once morest West Ham United, and talks are also being held with the British government “regarding the scope of the licence”. It continued: “This also means that we will apply for a license change to allow the club to operate as normally as possible. We will also seek advice from the UK Government on how these measures affect the Chelsea Foundation and its important work impact in our communities.” In due course, the club intends to provide more information.
Chelsea: Main sponsor jumps off
Abramovich’s short-term sale of the Blues club was apparently intended to take place before sanctions were imposed on the businessman. However, Thursday’s UK decision has complicated that plan, although a spokesman for Premier Johnson said the club might be sold but would also require a special licence.
Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered the next setback. Main sponsor “Three”, a British mobile phone provider, said it wanted to put its contract with the club on hold until further notice. The company also asked for the logo to be removed from the shirts. “In the light of the recent sanctions, we demand from Chelsea FC that our sponsorship of the club (…) be suspended,” it said. This will displease many Chelsea fans, but is “the right thing to do in the given circumstances”. According to media reports, Three spent the equivalent of 48 million euros per season on .
