Roman
Abramovich has received several serious bids in the region of £3billion to
buy Chelsea - as Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley says the Russian has
been treated unfairly.
Abramovich announced his decision to sell Chelsea on Wednesday evening,
saying he believes "it is in the best interest of the club" after Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.
Further offers for the Champions League holders are expected, according to
the PA news agency, amid high interest in one of the world's most attractive
and high-profile football assets.
Chelsea's bosses and the team around the sale are expected to review the
credible bids once all offers are submitted.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and American investor Todd Boehly are
understood to be two of the parties interested in buying Chelsea but British
billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has ruled himself out, saying there is "no
substance" to reports he is looking to bid for his boyhood club.
Meanwhile, Staveley has said Abramovich has been treated unfairly and has
dismissed concerns about the Saudi-backed £300m takeover of Newcastle.
Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit, she said: "We
are always going to have geopolitical issues. This world is never going to
not have problems, and I know it is really hard and I am really sad today
that someone [Roman Abramovich] is going to have a football club [Chelsea]
taken away because of a relationship they may have with someone [Russia
president Vladimir Putin]. I do not think that is particularly fair,
actually, to be honest.
Chelsea's summer transfer plans in limbo as Roman Abramovich looks to sell
Premier League club
"But I also think that we have to hold all of our relationships to account.
And I think that we have also got to remember with Saudi [Arabia] that it is
an incredibly big, important country that I love. I love the people there.
It is a young, vibrant population and I have seen Saudi [Arabia] change so
much.
"And I am not talking now as [from a perspective of] Newcastle, I am talking
as me. So these are my thoughts because I have really got to know a lot of
people, and I am excited that... I would rather everybody look and get
excited about football than being involved in war."
Premier League must add human-rights
element to owners' test
Staveley's comments were labelled "unsurprising" and criticised by Amnesty
International, who have raised concerns about the human-rights record of
Saudi Arabia. Newcastle and the Premier League have said there is no link
between the owners of Newcastle and the Saudi state.
Amnesty spokesperson Felix Jakens said: "As we have always said, in this era
of global sports washing agenda and the horror that is going on in Ukraine,
the Premier League has a clear and immediate moral responsibility to change
its ownership rules, to strengthen the owners' and directors' test and to
put a stop to top-flight English football being used as a PR vehicle for
those complicit in serious human-rights violations.
"The issue of the owners' and directors' test, it can be easily strengthened
to include provisions to prevent somebody that has been directly implicated
in violations of international human-rights law - that is what we are seeing
in Russia now… the strikes in Ukraine, on civilian objects, schools,
hospitals."
Abramovich has so far not been sanctioned by the UK Government, who on
Thursday announced a "a full asset freeze and travel ban" on Uzbekistan-born
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov over his alleged links to Vladimir
Putin's regime.
The sanctions came a day after Everton suspended all commercial and
sponsorship activities with Usmanov's companies USM, Megafon and Yota in the
wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea's transfer plans in limbo
Chelsea's summer transfer plans have been thrown into doubt following
Abramovich's decision to sell the club, with the Premier League side
unlikely to be able to invest heavily in the summer window unless a wealthy
new owner is found in the next few months.
The Russian billionaire has bankrolled the Blues since his takeover in 2003,
with his funding helping Chelsea to win 19 major trophies during his reign.
Abramovich's support has continued even since 2018, when he became a less
visible presence at Stamford Bridge after withdrawing his application for a
UK visa, with the west London side breaking their transfer record to sign
Romelu Lukaku for £97.5m from Inter Milan last summer.
Q&A: Roman Abramovich selling Chelsea -
all you need to know on timings, reasons, transfers and more
Sky Sports News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol answers the most pressing
questions
The reason Roman Abramovich wants to sell Chelsea is because he is facing
the threat of being sanctioned by the UK Government. If that was to happen,
potentially all his assets in the UK could be frozen and he would lose
control of the club. He's already trying to sell £200m worth of property in
central London, and his most valuable UK asset is Chelsea, so it makes sense
he would try to sell the club as quickly as possible.
We had the situation yesterday where the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir
Starmer, stood up in the House of Commons and directly asked Boris Johnson,
the Prime Minister, why Abramovich had not already been sanctioned. Johnson
said he could not comment on individual cases. So obviously while this
threat of sanctions is hanging over him, it makes sense for Abramovich to
try to sell Chelsea as quickly as possible.
At the moment, in the current climate, it would be difficult to sell Chelsea
quickly. If you were trying to buy a flat in London or anywhere in the UK,
for instance, right now you would be asked some very serious questions -
where is the money coming from and where is it going to?
A lot of Russian banks have been sanctioned, so it's very difficult to do
business with Russian oligarchs or any Russian banks whatsoever. I don't
think it is going to be simple.
Speaking at the Financial Times' business of football summit, Richard
Masters, the Premier League chief executive, said: "I think the situation
has escalated incredibly quickly over the last seven days and he's
[Abramovich] come to the right conclusion. It's unsustainable in the current
environment.
"So it's a welcome decision and obviously, for the sake of everybody -
including the fans - as soon as the sale process concludes, everyone has
certainty."
Masters said the quickest sale of a Premier League club was 10 days, but
normally it takes a few weeks and depends on the complexity of the
information involved - and in this case, it's very, very complex.
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