Two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky implored the UK parliament to pass more measures, the UK announced sanctions against seven more Russian oligarchs, including the owner of Chelsea football club.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
Roman Abramovich had just put his Chelsea club, which he has cherished for almost 20 years, up for sale. But the latter is now frozen. The owner of the Premier League club (1st English division) for twenty years, close to Vladimir Putin, is among seven rich and influential Russians close to the Kremlin targeted Thursday by the British government.
In retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Roman Abramovich, who is also a shareholder in Russian steel companies which, according to London, may have manufactured the tanks deployed in Ukraine, is now subject to a freezing of his assets, a ban on transactions with British individuals and businesses and a travel ban.
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Chelsea, indirect victim of sanctions
Direct consequences for the club: closure of the ticket office and the derivatives shop, but also the impossibility of buying or selling players.
However, Chelsea are granted a “special license”, so that the staff of the London club can continue to receive a salary. The supporters of Blues will be able to attend the matches, if they have already purchased their ticket, but the club’s expenses will be regulated: no more than 20,000 pounds (around 24,000 euros) per trip and per team.
The defending Champions League winner has said he wants to ask the British government to change the license, so that the club can ” operate as normally as possible “.
This license does not authorize the sale of the club, but the government may consider a request to this effect on one condition: ” In no case Roman Abramovich could profit from this sale said a government spokesperson. The executive remains open for sale of the club, but this would require another license and discussions with the Treasury and other government departments “, he added.
Before deciding to sell, Roman Abramovich had tried to save what could be saved by entrusting the day-to-day management of the club to the six directors of his charitable foundation at the end of February. He also promised that the net proceeds » of the sale would be donated to a foundation for the benefit of « all the victims of the war in Ukraine “.
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The British Minister of Culture claims to want to protect the club. Fan organizations are calling on him to minimize uncertainty as much as possible, so that the club does not suffer from sanctions.
But its effects are already being felt. The mobile operator Three has meanwhile announced the suspension of its partnership with the club, to which it has notably asked for the deletion “ until further notice of its logo on the players’ shirts and around the stadium.
With Roman Abramovich’s investments, Chelsea won all the major trophies in England and Europe.