Chelsea in turmoil: what next after Roman Abramovich sanctions?

Given the week they’d had – losing a nail-biting Carabao Cup final to Liverpool, then finding out their club was up for sale – it was no surprise Chelsea began their match at Burnley last Saturday as if “wondering what was the point”, said Jonathan Liew in The Observer. 

For 45 minutes, the Blues were poor, but two quick goals by Kai Havertz helped them to a 4-0 victory. Throughout the match, Chelsea fans chanted the name Roman Abramovich – even during a minute of applause to show solidarity for the Ukrainian people. The manager, Thomas Tuchel, was visibly displeased. This was not “the moment to do this”, he said.

Abramovich reportedly tried to sell the club for an asking price of £3bn, said Duncan Castles in The Sunday Times. It seems an astronomically high sum, given that Chelsea is a club with “inferior revenue streams” to Manchester United, which is thought to be worth about £1.5bn.

Another huge issue is Stamford Bridge, which is in need of costly redevelopment, said Matt Law in The Daily Telegraph: it makes the real cost of a purchase even more expensive. On Thursday, the situation changed drastically when sanctions were imposed on Abramovich by the UK government. 

Russian-born billionaire Abramovich is one of seven more oligarchs who have had sanctions placed on them in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sky News reported. A government document said Abramovich has had a “close relationship for decades” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

How will sanctions impact Chelsea and a potential sale? 

As a result of the sanctions, the club’s income has been frozen. It is under an effective transfer embargo and it cannot even sell tickets to matches. 

The future of the reigning European champions is “uncertain”, the BBC said. But a special licence allows the Stamford Bridge club to keep operating. The men’s and women’s teams can fulfil their fixtures for the rest of this season as normal and the licence allows wages to be paid to all employees, including players and coaching staff. 

Abramovich can “no longer press ahead with selling the club”, said the Daily Mail. However, Chelsea can request “special dispensation”, which would be considered if the government views a change of ownership in the “best interests of the club”, provided it does not benefit Abramovich. “It effectively leaves Abramovich with two options: agree to the government’s conditions and lose the club for nothing, or let Chelsea slowly rot.”

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/people/955945/roman-abramovich-sanctions-chelsea-fc