Financial crises among football clubs are far from unusual. But the spectacular fall from grace of world and European champions Chelsea, following the imposition of swingeing sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich, can rarely have been so swift.
In the days before Boris Johnson’s government threw the kitchen sink at the Chelsea proprietor he was confidently seeking to sell the franchise for a record setting £3billion. Now the club, like NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland after the financial crisis of 2008, is under government control. It effectively has been nationalised.
Restrictions have been drawn so tightly that supporters are unable to buy tickets in case the cash falls into the hands of Abramovich and his cronies. One of the most expensively assembled teams in Europe may be required travel to overseas games by EasyJet if it is not to breach the sanctions rules.
Chelsea Football Club will be automatically cut-off from all inflows of fresh income whether it be uncollected broadcast rights or sponsorship and advertising deals.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is among oligarchs hit with asset freeze and travel bans under new UK sanctions revealed by the UK government on Thursday morning
The Foreign Office announced the sanctions with top-trumps style images on social media
There are early indications that any commercial association with Chelsea instantly has become toxic.
The British government charged that a publicly quoted steel company Evraz, effectively controlled by Abramovich, potentially provided the steel to Vladimir Putin to build the Russian tanks pounding and killing the people of Ukraine.
The Hong Kong owned telecom company Three, a sponsor of the team’s shirts, is severing that deal.
Under the government licence Chelsea is only permitted to earn enough revenues to pay its current bills and expenses.
Where precisely that money will come from when it must shell out £28million a month on salaries for its 65 playing staff or a massive £336m…
Source : dailymail
