Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC, was listed among Russian billionaires sanctioned by the British government due to the invasion of Ukraine, which implies the freezing of their assets and the suspension of the sale of the European champion club, which, however, will be able to continue playing.
These sanctions, which the United Kingdom has already applied to more than 200 people and entities for their links with Russian President Vladimir Putin, include the freezing of assets, the prohibition of carrying out transactions with British individuals and companies and the impossibility of traveling to the country. “Oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or in our society,” said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
“With their close ties to Putin, they are complicit in his aggression,” he added, announcing a new list of seven sanctioned men that, in addition to Abramovich, includes his former business partner Oleg Deripaska, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, and the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller.
The list is completed by the directors of the VTB bank, Andrei Kostin, of the hydrocarbon distribution company Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev, and of the Rossiya Bank, Dmitri Lebedev. “In view of the important impact that the sanctions of would have today at Chelsea Football Club and the possible repercussions”, the Boris Johnson executive published at the same time “a license to allow a series of football-related activities to continue” at the club.
Thus, Chelsea, which is third in the Premier League behind Manchester City and Liverpool, will be able to continue playing games, pay the salaries of its employees -players and coaches included-, taxes and bills related to their maintenance, travel costs and previously agreed transfers of footballers.
However, the license does not include the sale of new tickets or subscriptions or the new transfers of players by the club that won its second Champions League in 2021. The objective of this measure is “to protect the Premier League, the football pyramid in general, loyal fans and other clubs,” the government said.
$12.3 billion fortune
The British executive valued Abramovich’s fortune at 9.4 billion pounds (12.3 billion dollars, 11.2 billion euros), who in addition to owning Chelsea has shares in the steel giant Evraz.
In 2005 it sold a 73% stake in Russian oil company Sibneft to state gas titan Gazprom for 9.87 billion pounds, it said. “He is one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin,” he added, noting that “none of our allies have sanctioned Abramovich yet.”
Fearing being included in the list of natural and legal persons hit by British sanctions, Abramovich had announced last week that he was putting the famous west London club up for sale, which he has owned for 19 years.
“The sale of the club will not be done in a rush and will follow its normal course”, the oligarch had assured about the team he bought in 2003 for 140 million pounds (168 million euros, 187 million dollars) and in which he has made huge investments since then.
He specified that he would not request repayment of the loans he granted to the club, estimated at 1,500 million pounds and that the “net proceeds” of his sale would be destined to “a charitable foundation for the benefit of all the victims of the war in Ukraine”.
According to the British press, a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly – co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club – and Swiss millionaire Hansjorg Wyss – founder of the medical equipment company Synthes – has already made an offer.
According to the Financial Times, another American millionaire, Josh Harris, was also contemplating making a bid. Turkish millionaire Mushin Bayrak also expressed his interest in the club.
