Chelsea
owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK government - meaning he
is now unable to sell the club.
Abramovich has had "his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK
individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions" imposed on
him.
The sanctions are intended to stop the 55-year-old from making any money in
the UK - and this includes from Chelsea. An application to the UK government
can be made to sell Chelsea in the future as long as Russian-Israeli
billionaire Abramovich does not profit or make any money from the
transaction.
The government has granted Chelsea a special licence to allow fixtures to be
fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
But all Chelsea teams are now banned from:
- Offering new contracts to players or staff - Antonio Rudiger, Andreas
Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta see their deals expire on June 30
- Conducting any official transfer business, including women's team
- Selling new tickets to any game for any of their teams - including women
and junior sides (season-ticket holders and existing ticket holders only)
- Selling merchandise to fans (existing merchandise can be sold via third
parties)
- No stadium work or redevelopment
- Spending over £500,000 on security, stewarding and catering costs per home
match and over £20,000 expenses per away games
Nadine Dorries, the minister for Sport and Culture, tweeted: "I know this
brings some uncertainty, but the Government will work with the league &
clubs to keep football being played while ensuring sanctions hit those
intended. Football clubs are cultural assets and the bedrock of our
communities. We're committed to protecting them."
A government statement said: "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 licence which
authorises a number of football-related activities to continue at Chelsea.
"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 licence
will only allow certain explicitly named actions to ensure the designated
individual is not able to circumvent UK sanctions. The licence will be kept
under constant review and we will work closely with the football
authorities."
Chelsea released a statement nearly five hours after the news broke, saying:
"We will fulfil our men's and women's team fixtures today against Norwich
and West Ham, respectively, and intend to engage in discussions with the UK
Government regarding the scope of the licence.
"This will include seeking permission for the licence to be amended in order
to allow the Club to operate as normal as possible. We will also be seeking
guidance from the UK Government on the impact of these measures on the
Chelsea Foundation and its important work in our communities."
Sky Sports News understands that Chelsea and government officials will meet
on Thursday.
Abramovich has owned Chelsea since 2003 and the club have won 21 trophies in
19 years during his stewardship.
Why government are sure Abramovich is
close to Putin
Sky Sports News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
The reason this has happened is because the UK government have decided Roman
Abramovich is close to Vladimir Putin.
They describe him as a pro-Kremlin oligarch, and they also say he has been
found to have received preferential treatment and concessions from the
Russian government. They say he is involved in undermining Ukraine and
threatening its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.
They also go into some detail about the fact he is a major shareholder in a
steelmaking and mining company called Evraz PLC, which he effectively
controls, and they say that company may have supplied steel to the Russian
military, which is used for building their tanks.
The UK government are 100 per cent sure Abramovich is close to Putin,
despite his denials.
Chelsea can continue to operate but club
is in limbo
Sky Sports News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
The sale is on hold for the time being. Roman Abramovich will not be able to
sell Chelsea. From the beginning of this process, he's been on the back
foot, he's not been in control of this situation - the government has.
He came up with the scheme to hand over control but not ownership of the
club to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation charity. That didn't work, so
he released a statement saying he wished to sell the club, and that all
proceeds would go to a new foundation that he would set up to help all
victims of the war in Ukraine.
That's what he wanted to do, but all along there has been the threat of the
UK imposing sanctions on him. He's now not allowed to make any money in the
UK, and won't be able to sell Chelsea.
But Chelsea is seen by the government as being a significant cultural asset,
thereby they've given Chelsea a licence. So despite the sanctions, they can
carry on operating, fulfilling their fixtures.
But effectively, they are in limbo. There are a lot of things they can't do.
They can carry on paying their players, but they will not be able to make
new signings. They can't sell tickets for games, so only season ticket
holders or people who already have bought tickets can go to games.
They won't be able to make any money from merchandise. They'll be able to
carry on paying their players and day-to-day bills.
It goes into detail, even about how much money they can spend on travel to
away games. Per team at the club, they can spend up to £20,000 on travel.
For home games, they can spend up to £500,000 per game on security, catering
and stewarding, but no more than that.
What this means for Abramovich is that Chelsea is now effectively out of his
control now. It is operating under a special licence now, and that licence
will be continually reviewed.
For Chelsea as a club, in the short-term, they can continue to operate on a
match-by-match basis, but long-term things are very, very uncertain.
We will get into things like player contracts, the transfer window opening,
whether players who are out of contract will want to stay at the club,
whether the big-star players will want to stay.
The staff will carry on being paid, the government have made that clear.
If you go to a game at Stamford Bridge, I imagine you'll still be able to
buy food and drink, but you won't be able to buy anything from the club
shop.
If you don't have a ticket, you won't be able to watch Chelsea, unless you
go to away games. It's a lot to digest for Chelsea supporters.
A lot of people will be saying they feel sorry for Chelsea supporters, but
they're not the victims here, there are far more important things going on
in the world than football at the moment.
What does this mean for the sale of
Chelsea?
Stephen Taylor Heath, sports lawyer:
The short answer is, no he can't [sell the club]. The freezing of an asset
literally means the freezing of an asset. Chelsea is a physical item, there
is lots of organic parts to the club, unlike a yacht, and that is why the
government has issued a special licence which effectively means the club can
continue trading and operating based on its current commitments and
obligations.
So the current season-ticket holders can attend games because they've
already contracted with the club, spectators who want to buy tickets for
games can't because that is a new transaction.
That is at one level, new players would be another new contract, even
potentially new contracts with existing players could be new contracts. And
clearly what would be a new contract would be the sale of the club.
So in short, based on this freezing order, no he can't sell the club. Now if
the government is prepared to give a special licence in relation to the
operation of the club, then the question is whether they would then give
another special licence in relation to the sale of the club.
But based on the terms of this freezing order, no he can't.
How much will this hurt the club
financially?
Analysis by Sky News' business presenter Ian King:
There is a real question over the short-term sustainability of Chelsea FC as
while they can receive prize money and TV money, but they are banned from
selling new tickets, they can carry on receiving money from season-ticket
holders who have not quite completed the purchase of their season tickets
yet.
But that is not going to bring in a lot of cash, so that is the question I
would want answering from the football club - how much cash do they have to
continue paying and running their day-to-day operations?
The last accounts were published just after Christmas and that covered the
period up until the end of June last year - there was some cash on the
balance sheet, but those figures are just a snapshot from last year.
We do not know how much cash Chelsea are currently sitting on, how much cash
they have available to meet their present outgoings. So without knowing the
detail behind that, you would have to speculate that the club may have some
difficulty meeting its bills and potentially paying wages in due course. And
that would be the real concern.
Supporters' Trust want golden share |
Shirt sponsor 'reviewing position
A Chelsea Supporters' Trust Spokesperson said: "The CST notes with concern
the Government's statement regarding the owner. Supporters must be involved
in any conversation regarding ongoing impacts on the club and its global fan
base.
"The CST implores the Government to conduct a swift process to minimise the
uncertainty over Chelsea's future, for supporters and for supporters to be
given a golden share as part of a sale of the club."
The Premier League said in a statement: "Following the UK Government's
announcement that sanctions have been imposed against Roman Abramovich, the
Premier League can confirm tonight's match between Norwich City FC and
Chelsea FC will go ahead as planned.
"The League will now work with the club and the Government to ensure the
season will proceed as planned and in line with the Government's intention."
Abramovich, who last month put Chelsea up for sale due to the threat of
government action, has been sanctioned along with six of Russia's wealthiest
and most influential oligarchs, whose business empires, wealth and
connections are closely associated with Vladimir Putin's regime. They have a
net worth of £15bn.
Chelsea's shirt sponsor, telecommunications company Three, have placed their
three-year deal which was announced in January 2020, under review. A company
spokesperson said: "We are in discussions with Chelsea and reviewing our
position."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "There can be no safe havens for those
who have supported Putin's vicious assault on Ukraine. Today's sanctions are
the latest step in the UK's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We
will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians,
destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies."
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "Today's sanctions show once again that
oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With
their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression.
"The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their
heads in shame."
Brentford suspend ticket sales for Chelsea
trip
Brentford have suspended sales of tickets for their away game Chelsea on
April 2.
Under the terms of the licence issued to Chelsea, the club is not allowed to
sell new tickets for games but can honour existing sales.
A Brentford statement said: "We are seeking clarification from the Premier
League as to what this means for our away ticketing allocation at the match
at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 2 April.
"We will confirm what this means for the Bees fans who have already
purchased a ticket for this game and what this means for the remaining
tickets yet to be allocated to Brentford supporters.
"The planned release of the next batch of away tickets for this match, due
to open at 2pm today, Thursday 10 March, will not take place this afternoon
as we seek further clarity from the authorities.
"Prior to 10 March we made a contractual commitment to take our entire
allocation of 3,000 tickets for this match and will do everything in our
power to ensure our full allocation is distributed to Bees fans."
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