Proceeds from Chelsea sale lie 'frozen' in a UK bank account.
According to The Sun, Chelsea could be banned from the Premier League if Roman Abramovich walks away with his demanded £1.6billion from the sale.
After the UK government put Chelsea owner Abramovich under several sanctions, the Russian oligarch announced to sell the club and gave the authority to US-based firm Raine to oversee the ownership-handover process.
Due to the sanctions, the Russian billionaire couldn’t take any profits from the sale. The whole amount was believed to be used for several goodwill purposes, including helping the people affected by the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Russian Billionaire himself suggested that he wouldn’t demand the loan he gave Chelsea throughout his 13-year tenure to be repaid as the Blues have been more of an emotional investment than a business venture for the oligarch.
But, now it is believed that Roman Abramovich has asked the £1.6billion he loaned to the club to be repaid in full. He is believed to have instructed the club to send the money to Jersey-based Camberley International Investment that the Blues owe to its parent company, Fordstam.
Even though Abramovich’s name isn’t involved in any paperwork of the Jersey-based Investment firm, he is believed to be linked with the company. And that is where the trouble begins.
The UK government wouldn’t anyway want to let Abramovich and his partners walk away with £1.6billion from the Chelsea sale. The sanctions also prevent such an action. It would certainly be a very surprising move from the government if they were to let this happen, given their initial reaction towards Abramovich and his colleagues once Russia invaded Ukraine.
Hence, if the Russian Billionaire sticks to his demand and causes Chelsea to delay the handover process, they would risk getting banned from the Premier League after the 31st May deadline. And that is an unthinkable situation for the Blues fans, who would have been eyeing a PL title challenge next term.
The ownership process has already hampered day-to-day work at Chelsea. Amid such a situation, the best possible output for all the parties involved would be to finish the takeover process. Anything that hinders that would be criticised by the fans, even if it is Abramovich asking Chelsea for what he believes they owe him.
Abramovich’s demands come as a big surprise as he has always been emotionally attached to the club. His effective decisions have helped the club reach where they are today. However, his apparent demand would create nothing but more problems for Chelsea.
The UK government’s strict ownership stance suggests that they wouldn’t allow the Russian oligarch to profit from the sale. This would be a tricky situation to navigate through because the money in question isn’t a small amount at all.
It is hard to imagine the Russian causing Chelsea irreversible damage such as playing a hand in them being banned from next season’s PL. That would immediately put the futures of everyone employed by the club at risk. Hopefully, there is a solution regarding this problem before the aforementioned deadline.
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