Roman Abramovich sanctioned with UK assets frozen
Chelsea FC will still be operate under a special license but any potential sale of the London based football club is now on hold.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea FC in 2003, and his ownership has seen the most successful years the club has enjoyed. Last week Abramovich announced that he was putting the club up for sale amid growing calls in Britain for him to face sanctions following Russia's invasion of its neighbour Ukraine.
Today, it has been confirmed that the Russian has indeed been sanctioned (what this means for Chelsea) with all his UK assets frozen. Chelsea FC have been told that the club can still operate under a special license but potential sale of the London SW6 based club is now on hold with the club being informed that they cannot sell any more match-day tickets with only season ticket holders set to be permitted to attend matches at home for the foreseeable future.
In the UK Government document announcing the sanction, it states that Abramovich: 'is associated with a person who is, or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Valdimir Putin, who with Abramovich has had a close relationship with for decades'.
Roman Abramovich joins other wealthy Russians, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev who were added to the government listing.
"There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.