The British government finally sanctioned Roman Abramovich & Chelsea FC

I’m not sure if Americans really understand what a big deal and a big mess this Roman Abramovich situation is. In 2003, Abramovich bought the Chelsea Football Club, which was already one of the biggest football clubs in the UK. He had the time and money to make significant improvements and to bring some of the best football players in the world to Chelsea. People have really strong feelings about Chelsea FC. Which is why I believe Boris Johnson’s government slow-walked sanctions on Abramovich specifically, although one could argue that the Johnson government has slow-walked sanctions on all of the Russian oligarchs who own property in the UK. The Tories are much like the Republicans here in America: heavily financed and compromised by Russia. In any case, the Johnson government has only now decided to sanction Abramovich, but Johnson has taken pains to ensure that Chelsea FC will continue as always.

The U.K. government said on Thursday it had imposed asset freezes on seven Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev after they were added to the country’s sanctions list.

“There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine,” U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson said. Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea football club, Deripaska has stakes in En Group, Sechin is the chief executive of Rosneft and Lebedev is chairman of the board of directors of Bank Rossiya.

The U.K. government said it would enable Chelsea to continue playing matches after it imposed sanctions on Abramovich, halting his plan to sell the English Premier League side. Abramovich had put the club up for sale, but Britain’s asset freeze and sanctions on him bar that process under the terms of the licence granted to the club.

Nadine Dorries, Britain’s minister for sport, said the government had issued a special licence to enable Chelsea to play fixtures, pay staff and enable ticket holders to attend matches, because it did not want to harm the reigning European and world football champions.

“I know this brings some uncertainty, but the government will work with the league and clubs to keep football being played while ensuring sanctions hit those intended,” she said on Twitter. “Football clubs are cultural assets and the bedrock of our communities. We’re committed to protecting them.”

[From ESPN]

Basically, everything will continue as is – Chelsea ticket-holders will retain their tickets or be able to sell at a fair price. Broadcasters will still be able to televise Chelsea matches, but the revenue from the TV rights will be tricky, because Abramovich is no longer allowed to “profit” in any way from Chelsea FC. Apparently, new tickets will not be sold and Chelsea cannot sell merch. Everyone who works for Chelsea will get paid, the government assures. My guess is that Boris Johnson waited this long in the hopes that Abramovich would make a quick sale of Chelsea and then stash away the profits outside of the UK. It’s been difficult for Abramovich to sell though – he’s asking for £3 billion for Chelsea and no one has bid that much! Because if you have billions to throw around, you know a fire sale when you see one, and why pay nearly $4 billion for a football club when the owner is being sanctioned and you could get it cheaper? Johnson thought it could let all of this play out quietly, that’s why he waited so long to sanction these oligarchs.

Roman Abramovich’s assets have been frozen by the UK government, meaning he is unable to sell Chelsea.

▪️ Further ticket sales to home and away fans are prohibited

▪️ Season tickets still valid

▪️ No merchandise sales allowed

▪️ No transfers

▪️ No contract renewals pic.twitter.com/igoCglPrAu

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 10, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.