Roman Abramovich, Owner of Chelsea FC, Has Assets Frozen By Britain

At Chelsea on Thursday morning, staff members were said to be struggling to come to terms with what the British government’s actions would mean. Other club officials, including Chelsea’s German coach, Thomas Tuchel, and Abramovich’s chief lieutenant, Marina Granovskaia, were trying to understand what they could and could not do.

At the team’s Stamford Bridge stadium, security officials closed the team shop and blocked visitors from entering the grounds. Elsewhere, the team’s jersey sponsor, the telecommunications company Three, said it was “reviewing our position.”

The freezing of Abramovich’s assets could make it impossible for him to follow through on his previously announced plans to sell Chelsea. Under the new sanctions, the British government will now have complete oversight of that process. The effect would be to heavily diminish any proposed sale price, but it could block a sale entirely since it is unlikely the government would allow such a large transfer of money — Abramovich was said to be seeking more than $2 billion for Chelsea — from being paid to an owner under sanctions.

“Given the significant impact that today’s sanctions would have on Chelsea football club and the potential knock on effects of this, the Government has this morning published a license which authorizes a number of football-related activities to continue at Chelsea,” the British government said in its statement announcing the freezing of Abramovich’s assets. “This includes permissions for the club to continue playing matches and other football related activity which will in turn protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs. This license will only allow certain explicitly named actions to ensure the designated individual is not able to circumvent U.K. sanctions.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/sports/soccer/abramovich-chelsea-sanctions.html