Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the British government and his assets were frozen. Chelsea resigned to accept the punishment.
Abramovich, as a figure close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also affected following his country’s invasion of Ukraine. The British government sanctioned one of the seven Russian oligarchs.
The sanction is in the form of freezing Abramovich’s assets in England, including Chelsea Football Club. As a result, he was unable to sell the West London club first after his plan to release it at a price of 3 billion pounds, or around Rp. 56 trillion.
As a result of the freeze by the British Government, Chelsea were not allowed to buy new players or give new contracts, merchandise sales were closed, Chelsea were not allowed to sell tickets anymore (except those who had season tickets), and in the coming season there were no away fans.
Indeed, the sanctions are still of short duration and there will be changes. But, still this is detrimental to Chelsea, who are struggling to get three titles in the remainder of this season, namely the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
Related sanctions to Abramovich, Chelsea accept with relief. However, they are guaranteed to be able to carry out their activities as usual, whether it be competing or paying the salaries of players, coaching staff, and employees until the end of the season.
“Chelsea Football Club has been informed that the owner of Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British Government. Since Abramovich is the full owner of Chelsea FC Plc and everyone in it, the club should be subject to the same sanctions. However, the British Government has allowed Chelsea FC to carry on as usual, said Chelsea’s official statement.
“We will continue to play today’s men’s and women’s teams against Norwich and West Ham, as well as discussing with the British government the scope of this permit. This allows the club to operate as usual. We are also continuing to seek direction from the British Government regarding the impact of this punishment on Chelsea. Foundation and all its activities in our environment.”
“The club will continue to provide developments if necessary.”
Chelsea are now in third place in the Premier League standings with 53 points from 26 matches, 10 points behind Liverpool in second and 16 points from Manchester City at the top.
(mrp/ran)
