The British government places the Russian oligarch on a sanctions list and freezes assets. The club’s game operations should continue under a “special license”.
Britain has imposed sanctions on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs. This was announced by the British government on Thursday. Accordingly, Abramovich’s assets were frozen, transactions with British private individuals and companies are forbidden to him. He was also given a travel and transport ban. Among the frozen values is also the football club FC Chelsea, which Abramovich has owned since 2003.
Abramovich had announced that he wanted to sell the club. It is unclear whether this is still possible. The game operation is to continue under a special license. The government said the intention was to prevent the sanctions from harming the football club. Allowing Chelsea to continue playing their games protects the Premier League, football as a whole, loyal fans and other clubs. The license is checked regularly. However, Chelsea are currently not allowed to sell any new tickets or fan items, and transfers are no longer possible for the time being. Salaries may be paid, but away trips do not cost more than £20,000.
Great Britain is reacting to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “There must be no safe havens for those who supported Putin’s vicious attack on Ukraine,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying. Abramovich is said to be close to Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin, which he denies.
Under Abramovich, who has Russian as well as Portuguese and Israeli citizenship and is considered one of the richest people in the world, the Blues, who are currently being coached by German coach Thomas Tuchel, experienced the most successful period in their club history and won nationally and internationally all sorts of titles, most recently the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
