Chelsea could go bust
CHELSEA are in turmoil after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, plunging the club’s future into doubt. The dramatic news on Thursday effectively means the Russian-born billionaire oligarch can no longer press ahead with selling the club.
Government sanctions means that all of the Russian’s UK assets have been frozen due to the conflict in Ukraine
In that scenario, it is likely that the government would take control of the sale and the proceeds would be frozen or go into a charitable fund, possibly for the war victims in Ukraine.
That effectively leaves Abramovich with two options: agree to the government’s conditions and lose the club for nothing, or let Chelsea slowly rot.
It is likely the Russian billionaire will proceed with the sale to preserve the club’s future, even though that means he would not receive a penny for an asset he was looking to sell for £3bn last week.
A number of parties remain in the running, including Candy, whose attempts to buy Chelsea were revealed by Sportsmail earlier this week.
Chelsea were holding talks on Thursday night with the government amid concerns they will struggle to complete the campaign.
The Blues could lose millions in sponsorship revenue following Thursday’s developments. Shirt sponsors Three have put their £40m agreement on hold and kit suppliers Nike, who agreed a 15-year, £900m deal with Chelsea in 2016, are considering walking away. That would see the club miss out on £540m.
To top it all, Chelsea’s rivals are lining up to take advantage of their plight, with two players who were due to sign for the Blues’ academy already approached by other highranking Premier League clubs, given the ban on the Blues bringing in fresh talent.
Blues officials proposed amendments to the licence issued to allow them to operate.
Under a wide-ranging raft of restrictions, Chelsea were left unable to sell match tickets, forced to close the club shop and blocked from taking bookings for the Stamford Bridge hotel.
They were told they can no longer buy or sell players or offer new contracts and were restricted to a maximum spend of £20 000 on travel to away matches.
They were informed that they can only pay “reasonable costs” towards hosting home fixtures, “not exceeding £500 000 per fixture, per team.
But there is a view the limits on transport and hosting matches will need to be raised to stop the club losing money.
Chelsea will continue to receive television broadcast payments and prize money, but this will be frozen. Existing staff and players will continue to be paid.
The club will also ask for clarity over contracts, with a number of star players’ deals due to expire at the end of the season.
As it stands, Chelsea cannot renew any contracts — meaning defenders Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta will leave in the summer.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and his players were addressed by club officials before Thursday night’s win at Norwich and urged to focus on the football, despite the huge uncertainty. —