Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK Parliament. This is an effort to ‘isolate’ Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine. A number of oligarchs have found their way onto the list, and Abramovich has been officially named in it.
As part of the sanction, Abramovich will not be able to sell the club himself. He will only be able to make the sale if the UK government is allowed to take over the process. During this time, transfers, contract agreements and merchandise sales have been prohibited by the government. Moreover, ticket sales have also been affected.
Only season ticket holders can attend games, with fans potentially barred from attending away games.
Chelsea owner sanctioned – how it affects the club
Ben Peppi, sports commercial expert at JMW Solicitors, told CNN Sport: “Abramovich won’t be allowed to put any money into the club or take any money out of it. As we know, he has funded Chelsea to the tune of billions of pounds and has a £1.5 billion ($1.98 billion) loan that Chelsea currently owes to Abramovich,” he said.
“Obviously, matchday revenue contributes to that, and we know that no new tickets can be sold, no new merchandise can be sold that benefits either the club or Abramovich — it can only benefit the retailers.”
Chelsea’s shirt sponsors, 3 mobile, have also suspended their partnership with the club. The Blues will be playing their next games without a shirt sponsor on their kit.
With Roman Abramovich sanctioned, Chelsea have been given a special license to operate. The true extent of the license will be revealed in the coming days, but it is valid until May 31, or until the club has been sold.
Abramovich revealed that he would be selling the club prior to being sanctioned. He also said that all debts would be forgiven, and that the proceeds from the sale would go to the benefit of victims in Ukraine. But that seems to be in doubt now, with the UK government seizing the asset.
