Read Reason Why Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is Banned UK Government

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK government; banned from transactions with UK individuals and businesses; Chelsea given special licence to continue to operate; only existing ticket holders can attend games

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.

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.