I think most of us have been fairly disappointed with the UK government’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as saying that we’ll impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs in 18 months isn’t really going to affect anything is it?
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However, it looks like someone pulled their finger out this morning because it’s been announced that seven Russian oligarchs have been hit with sanctions including having their assets frozen and travel bans imposed. These include billionaires Igor Sechin and Oleg Deripaska – both said to be allies of Putin – and most notably Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
We’ve all seen recently that Abramovich has been desperately trying to sell Chelsea before any of this happened, but it looks like he won’t be able to get out of dodge here. Not sure how accurate this information is, but journalists on Twitter are saying that the club sale is off, that they won’t be able to buy any more players/offer old ones new contracts and that the club shop is closed and they won’t be able to sell tickets to any more games – although existing tickets will be honoured.
Huge news. Roman Abramovich sanctioned by UK government. Assets seized, Chelsea sale off, but
government have put in place a license to ensure the club can fulfil fixtures, while staff and players can be paid #cfc https://t.co/2EViHpKzIo— Alistair Magowan (@alistairmagowan) March 10, 2022
Roman Abramovich assets seized. @ChelseaFC not allowed to sell any more tickets. Club shop closed. Existing tickets will be honoured.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) March 10, 2022
Also: no merchandise sales allowed; no player transfers or new contracts; catering services will be permitted.
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) March 10, 2022
Wow. Absolutely huge news and completely fucks off Chelsea for the foreseeable future as it doesn’t seem like there’s any way out of this for Abramovich and the football club unless he convinces Putin to stop the war effort or actively turns against him. Never seen anything like it and have absolutely no idea how it’s going to play out. From Champion’s League winners to whatever the hell this is. What a turnaround.
For more of the same, remember when Conor McGregor tried to buy Chelsea? Bet Abramovich wishes he had done that deal now.
