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Longtime Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich confirmed that he will sell the club on Wednesday. The move comes amid mounting calls in the United Kingdom for him to face sanctions in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dialogue with interested parties had begun earlier this week after Abramovich’s attempts to distance himself from the club by handing its stewardship over to Chelsea’s charitable foundation hit roadblocks. Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss has already publicly expressed an interest in a deal while claiming that there are three other contenders. Wyss is part of a consortium that is understood to include Todd Boehly, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks.
Notably, Abramovich has confirmed he will “not be asking for any loans to be repaid.” Chelsea’s most recent accounts showed that they owed around $2billion to their owner, who has financed a remarkable level of spending over the 19 years since he bought the club for just over $230million. Abramovich says the “net proceeds” of the sale will be distributed to the victims of the war in Ukraine through a foundation he will set up.
“The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine,” Abramovich said. “This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.”
Previous statements from both Abramovich and the club had not acknowledged the Russian invasion but instead spoke of the “situation in Ukraine.” Though the 55-year-old did not go so far as to address Russian actions describing it as a war is notably divergent from the Kremlin, who have labelled it a “special military operation.”
Abramovich had come under pressure to publicly disavow himself from Putin or face sanctions from the UK government. Speaking under parliamentary privilege, Chris Bryant, chair of the All Party Parliamentary group…
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Source : cbssports
