Ukraine war: Because of Abramovich – Chelsea affected by drastic sanctions

The British government has imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs over their links to Vladimir Putin. “There must be no safe havens for those who supported Putin’s vicious attack on Ukraine,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Robert Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club, is also affected. Abramovich’s assets have been frozen and he is banned from transactions with British private individuals and companies. He was also given a travel and transport ban.

This should have drastic consequences for the Premier League club. Abramovich is no longer allowed to earn money with the club, Chelsea FC can only continue playing with a special license, the British sanctions authority said. According to the regulations, Chelsea FC is not allowed to sell new tickets for its games, only holders of season tickets already purchased are still allowed to enter the stadium at Stamford Bridge.

In addition, the club is prohibited from selling merchandise – some jerseys or fan scarves. And: Chelsea are no longer allowed to be active on the transfer market, no longer buy or sell players and also no longer extend current contracts.

Financial and sporting problems for Chelsea in sight

Chelsea FC is allowed to continue sportingly and continue to play games. Nevertheless, the cuts pose major challenges for the club. On the one hand, all sources of income will dry up as a result of the sanctions, which should sooner or later mean considerable financial difficulties for the Blues, who have been on a bed of roses for years due to their extremely wealthy owner.

The club, which employs three German players in Timo Werner, Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz and a German coach in Thomas Tuchel, is also in limbo in terms of sport. The team cannot be reinforced by new players for the time being. According to the sanctions, professionals whose contracts are expiring are not allowed to get a new contract and will therefore leave the Blues on a free transfer. Among other things, the term of the working paper for DFB national player Antonio Rüdiger ends in the summer. And it is still completely unclear how long the sanctions will remain in force.

Roman Abramovich can no longer sell the club

Abramovich originally wanted to sell the club after Russia attacked Ukraine and it became apparent that the 55-year-old oligarch would also be subject to sanctions. But even that should no longer be possible – the billionaire and the club are stuck together in a dead end. Abramovich had targeted a price of around three billion pounds for the sale, i.e. the equivalent of 3.6 billion euros. After the Russian invasion, the owner transferred the management of the club to the trustees of his charitable foundation.

He also announced that he intends to donate the profits from the sale to victims of the Ukraine war via a foundation. However, it remained unclear whether this really meant the Ukrainian population or institutions in Ukraine. In the past few days there have also been reports in England that Abramovich would probably not get the desired price, but would have to sell the football club at a much lower price.

Proximity to Vladimir Putin

The 55-year-old had earned billions from oil deals after the end of the Soviet Union. With an estimated fortune of almost eleven billion euros, Abramovich is one of the richest people in the world. He bought Chelsea FC in 2003 for a sum of 210 million euros and since then has pumped hundreds of millions of euros into the club for player salaries and transfer fees.

According to the British government, Abramovich “is associated with a person who is or was involved in the destabilization of Ukraine and the undermining and threatening of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine” – meaning Vladimir Putin. The oligarch himself denies being close to the Russian president.

/ / / DPA / /