The UK government took the first step of sanctioning Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC, as a result of him being intertwined with Vladimir Putin and the war on Ukraine.
In an official memo, HMRC claimed that Amramovich “is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine…via Evraz PLC, a steel manufacturing and mining company…over which Abramovich exercises effective control”, the company which has been making “and supplying steel to the Russian military”.
This meant that Chelsea have essentially been frozen as an asset, although they do have a special license to continue playing football and will be allowed to fulfil their fixtures. No tickets, however, beyond those already sold, will be available for home or away fans and the club is no longer even allowed to sell merchandise in their club shop, which has closed.
This is the extraordinary situation the current European champions Chelsea finds itself in. pic.twitter.com/RGvvYXj4Vw
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) March 10, 2022
It also means that they cannot sign new contracts, meaning that all of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are set to leave in the summer when their current deals expire.
Chelsea statement seeks ‘discussions with the UK Government’
Now, the club have issued a statement claiming that they will be looking to seek an amendment to the license for the club to operate ‘as normal as possible’ until the decree runs out on May 31st.
‘Chelsea Football Club has been advised that its owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK Government’, it began.
‘By virtue of his 100 per cent ownership of Chelsea FC plc and affiliated entities, Chelsea FC would normally be subject to the same regimes as Mr Abramovich. However, the UK Government has issued a general license that permits Chelsea FC to continue certain activities.’
‘We will fulfill our men’s and women’s team fixtures today against Norwich and West Ham, respectively, and intend to engage in discussions with the UK Government regarding the scope of the licence. This will include seeking permission for the license to be amended in order to allow the Club to operate as normal as possible. We will also be seeking guidance from the UK Government on the impact of these measures on the Chelsea Foundation and its important work in our communities.’
‘The Club will update further when it is appropriate to do so.’
Statement from Chelsea Football Club.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 10, 2022
It is hard to see a way out of this mess for the club and owner alike.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City | 28 | 50 | 69 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 27 | 51 | 63 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 26 | 35 | 53 |
| 4 | Arsenal FC | 25 | 12 | 48 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 28 | 7 | 47 |
| 6 | West Ham United | 28 | 11 | 45 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 8 | 45 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 27 | 1 | 40 |
| 9 | Southampton FC | 27 | -7 | 35 |
| 10 | Crystal Palace | 28 | 1 | 33 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 26 | 0 | 33 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 25 | -3 | 33 |
| 13 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 27 | -6 | 33 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 26 | -16 | 28 |
| 15th | Brentford FC | 28 | -15th | 27 |
| 16 | Leeds United | 27 | -32 | 23 |
| 17 | Everton FC | 25 | -18 | 22 |
| 18 | Burnley FC | 26 | -14 | 21 |
| 19 | Watford FC | 27 | -23 | 19 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 27 | -42 | 17 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 19 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 12 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 12 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 10 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 10 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 10 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 9 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 9 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 9 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City | 9 |
| Tony, Ivan | Brentford FC | 9 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 9 |
| Rafinha | Leeds United | 9 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace | 9 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 8 |
| Antonio, Michael | West Ham United | 8 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 8 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 9 |
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 8 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 7 |
| Cash, Matty | Aston Villa | 0 | 8 |
| Brownhill, Josh | Burnley FC | 0 | 8 |
| Mctominay, Scott | Manchester United | 0 | 8 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United | 0 | 7 |
| Firpo, Junior | Leeds United | 0 | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 7 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 0 | 7 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 7 |
| Moreno, Rodrigo | Leeds United | 0 | 7 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 7 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 7 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United | 0 | 7 |
| Mings, Tyrone | Aston Villa | 0 | 7 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 7 |
| Duffy, Shane | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 7 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 7 |
| Williams, Brandon | Norwich City | 0 | 7 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 11 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 9 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 9 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 6 |
| Antonio, Michael | West Ham United | 6 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| James, Rece | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City | 6 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 6 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 5 |
| Henderson, Jordan | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Olise, Michael | Crystal Palace | 5 |
| Femenia, Kiko | Watford FC | 5 |