Putin causes Chelsea chaos
Abramovich is present at peace talks
By Hendrik Buchheister, Manchester
02/28/2022 3:23 p.m
Roman Abramovich is retiring from operational business at Chelsea. The consequences are unpredictable, but they could be serious for the Premier League club. At the same time, the Russian billionaire is negotiating peace in Ukraine.
Nothing changes at Chelsea and everything changes. Many observers in England interpret the announcement of the Russian owner Roman Abramowitsch that he is handing over responsibility and care (“stewardship and care”) of the club to the six trustees of the charitable Chelsea Foundation led by the American lawyer Bruce Buck with ambiguous results. Buck is also the president of the reigning Champions League winners and club world champions. He helped Abramovich buy the Londoner in the summer of 2003. The situation is unclear. The only thing that is certain is that coach Thomas Tuchel’s club is in the greatest uncertainty of the Abramovich era.
With the transfer of responsibility to the Chelsea Foundation, the commodity billionaire is officially withdrawing from the operative business. So far, however, he has had little to do with it. The faces of the club’s leadership in public are CEO Marina Granowskaia and technical adviser Petr Čech. It stays that way. Coach Tuchel said after the defeat in the League Cup final against Liverpool (10:11 on penalties) that he did not expect any changes in his daily work.
Chelsea’s ownership structure will also remain unaffected. Abramovich continues to be the owner of the club through a sponsoring company called Fordstam. According to official statements, Chelsea FC is not for sale. In English there is a distinction between “step back” and “step down”. Abramovich takes a step back. He does not relinquish ownership.
at peace talks
So far, Londoners have been able to count on being generously subsidized by Abramovich. He is said to have pumped around two billion euros into the club since 2003. In doing so, he made Chelsea one of the most successful clubs in world football – with five English championships, two Champions League wins and most recently the Club World Cup. But this title blessing could soon be over. Because of his alleged closeness to Vladimir Putin, which he denies, Abramovich is under the scrutiny of British politicians. Labor MP Chris Bryant last week called for Abramovich to be banned from owning a Premier League club and freeze his values. So far, Abramovich has not publicly condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine. In his announcement of a step back at Chelsea, he made no mention of the war in Ukraine.
It is unclear what relationship Abramovich has with Putin. In December, a case in England caused a stir over whether the commodities billionaire had once bought Chelsea on instructions from the Russian president. This conjecture was voiced in a book by journalist Catherine Belton. Abramovich took action against this claim and obtained an apology from the publisher and a change in the relevant book passages.
However, according to recent developments, the recent impression that Abramovich has nothing to do with politics is difficult to maintain. His spokesman confirmed to the PA news agency that the Chelsea owner was asked by the Ukrainian side to support and is taking part in peace talks with Russia. “Given what is at stake, we ask for your understanding that we are not commenting on the situation as such or his involvement,” said the spokesman.
According to RTE, Ukrainian film producer Alexander Rodnyansky said Abramovich was the only one on the Russian side who responded to Ukraine’s request for help. The Russian-Jewish billionaire tried to “mobilize support for a peaceful solution.” Exactly what Abramovich is doing and for which side he is appearing is unknown.
Daughter opposes Putin
His daughter Sofia, on the other hand, recently took a clear position. She posted a message on Instagram blaming Putin alone for the war in Ukraine – not Russia as a whole. The fact that most Russians support Putin is “the biggest and most successful lie in Kremlin propaganda,” she wrote. Such words have never been heard publicly from her father. With consequences for Chelsea.
How nebulous the situation at Stamford Bridge is is also shown by the fact that the trustees of the club foundation have not yet agreed to the assumption of “stewardship and care”, according to various media. Apparently they have doubts as to whether the management of the billion-dollar company Chelsea is compatible with the charitable nature of the foundation. They also reportedly fear serving as a front for a possible attempt by Roman Abramovich to evade sanctions. And so the current situation could sooner or later lead to the sale of the club. There would probably be enough interested parties. For example, three years ago Sir James Ratcliffe attempted to take over Chelsea. The founder of the chemicals empire Ineos is considered the richest Briton with assets of more than 15 billion euros, according to Forbes.
Nothing is changing at the club these days, and everything is changing.
