The government of the United Kingdom have frozen Roman Abramovich’s assets
The government of the United Kingdom have frozen Roman Abramovich’s assets
Abramovich is the most high-profile because of his ownership of Chelsea. “There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine,” Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the UK, said.
The UK government froze Abramovich’s assets
The government of the United Kingdom released a statement this Thursday, revealing that the assets of seven Russian oligarchs have been frozen. This includes Roman Abramovich, who is still the owner of Chelsea despite his plans to sell the club. The other oligarchs affected are Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska, Andrey Kostin, Alexei Miller, Nikolai Tokarev and Dmitri Lebedev. Still, Abramovich is the most high-profile because of his ownership of Chelsea. “There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine,” Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the UK, said. “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.”
Today’s sanctions obviously have a direct impact on Chelsea and its fans
Anticipating a sanction like this, Abramovich had tried to sell the club. He announced last week that he’d listen to offers, but there wasn’t enough time for the team to be sold, even if the first official bids were expected this week. Therefore, Chelsea may be affected by this decision to freeze Abramovich’s assets. Nadine Dorries, who is the UK’s secretary of state for sport, released a statement of her own to try to reassure Chelsea supporters. “Today’s sanctions obviously have a direct impact on Chelsea and its fans,” she said. “We have been working hard to ensure the club and the national game are not unnecessarily harmed by these crucial sanctions.”
“To ensure the club can continue to compete and operate, we are issuing a special licence that will allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches while, crucially, depriving Abramovich of benefiting from his ownership of the club. I know this brings some uncertainty, but the government will work with the league and 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.”