Temporarily not for sale anymore. The sale of English football club Chelsea, announced last week by its Russian owner Roman Abramovich, has been suspended. Because the oligarch, so far spared by the wave of sanctions taken by the United Kingdom because of the invasion of Ukraine, is now in the sights of London. He is one of seven rich and influential Russians close to the Kremlin against whom the British government announced sanctions on Thursday.
The 55-year-old businessman, close to Vladimir Putin, is subject to a travel ban but also a freezing of his assets, a ban on transactions with British individuals and companies. “The asset freeze restrictions also apply to all entities owned or controlled by Roman Abramovich. This means Chelsea Football Club is now also subject to an asset freeze under UK financial sanctions.the government said in a statement.
Roman Abramovich, whose fortune is estimated at £9.4 billion by the British government, last week offered to sell the London team to prevent his personality from harming the interests of the club. Before deciding to sell, he had tried to save what could be saved by entrusting the day-to-day management of the club to the six directors of his charitable foundation at the end of February. He also promised that the “net proceeds” of the sale would be donated to a charitable foundation for the benefit of “all the victims of the war in Ukraine”.
Many suitors in the ranks
The oligarch had bought the London team in 2003 for 140 million pounds (168 million euros), His fortune had succeeded in transforming this football club from a wealthy London district into a giant of European football, twice winner of the Champions League under his rule, the last time no later than last season. Today, Chelsea is valued at over £2 billion. Two years ago, the American Todd Boehly, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club, made an offer to buy the London club by offering 2.2 billion pounds (about 2.6 billion euros). euros).
The American businessman is still among the contenders for a takeover of the Blues alongside Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. According to the Daily Telegraph, the duo has already submitted a new offer, sent via New York-based investment bank Raine. According to the Financial Times, another American billionaire, Josh Harris, would be interested. As he co-owns the Crystal Palace club, also based in London, he would then have to withdraw from the Eagles to acquire Chelsea.
Turkish billionaire Muhsin Bayrak has also expressed interest, as has MMA star Connor Mc Gregor. In a series of tweets, the one who was the highest paid athlete in 2021 according to the magazine Forbesassured last week “explore this question. «Buying a football franchise is (listed) in my future, make no mistake“, he wrote again in a message deleted since. So many suitors who will have to wait.
On the other hand, if Chelsea is no longer acquireable, the club can continue a certain number of its activities. “Given the significant impact” sanctions on the club, the British government announced the publication of a “licence authorizing the continuation of a number of football-related activities at Chelsea”. “This includes permissions for the club to continue to play matches and other football-related activities, which will in turn protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal supporters and other clubs”adds the government.
In this regard, the club says this Thursday afternoon to have “the intention to enter into discussions with the UK Government regarding the scope of the licence. This will include a request for permission for the license to be amended to allow the club to operate as normally as possible.” This license does not authorize the sale of the club, but the government may consider a request to do so, on one condition: “In no case Roman Abramovich could profit from this sale”, said a government spokesman. The executive “is open to the sale of the club, but this would require another license and discussions with the Treasury and other ministries “, he added.
Update at 3:45 p.m. with the Chelsea club’s request for discussions with the government regarding the license granted to him.