Billionaire Roman Abramovich was punished for having ties to President Vladimir Putin: Freezing assets, banning travel

He is one of seven new Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Britain because of the Ukraine crisis.

Billionaire Roman Abramovich and Chelsea club have just received heavy sanctions. Accordingly, Chelsea cannot sell tickets to fans, except those who already have season tickets to go to the stadium to watch matches. In addition, the London team is also not allowed to buy and sell players and must stay out of the transfer market in the summer of 2022.

Players and staff at Chelsea are still being paid their normal salary. Meanwhile, Mr. Abramovich had his assets frozen by the UK and banned from travelling. He is one of seven new Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Britain because of the Ukraine crisis. As such, Abramovich cannot yet sell Chelsea to another owner.

Besides Abramovich, the other sanctioned individuals are Oleg Deripaska - leading industrialist, Igor Sechin - CEO of Rosneft, Alexei Miller - Chairman of Gazprom, Andrey Kostin - President of VTB Bank, Nikolai Tokarev - Chairman of the state-owned pipeline company Transneft, and Dmitri Lebedev - Chairman of the board of directors of Rossiya Bank.

Seven individuals have just been placed on the UK sanctions list for their alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They hold assets totaling up to $19.74 billion. "There can be no safe landing place for supporters of Putin's attack on Ukraine," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "Today's sanctions are the latest step in Britain's efforts to support the Ukrainian people," Mr Johnson said.

A growing number of British lawmakers have called on the government to punish Mr Abramovich and other Russian tycoons. They argue that Mr Johnson's government is not acting fast enough compared to the European Union (EU) and the US.

Mr. Abramovich had previously opened the sale of the Chelsea team, but that process will be blocked due to the asset freeze order and British sanctions. However, Chelsea can still play, according to British Sports Secretary Nadine Dorries.

According to Secretary of the British Culture Department Nadine Dorries, the British Government will make every effort to ensure that the sanctions do not affect Chelsea too much. "The sanctions directly affect Chelsea and the fans. We will work to keep the club and the league from being harmed by these sanctions.

To ensure the club can continue to play and operate, we are issuing a special license that allows fully paid club staff who purchase football tickets to watch matches. normal, while taking away Abramovich's ownership of the club," Dorries added.

"I know this will bring uncertainty, but the Government will work with the federation and the clubs to keep the flow of football alive, while ensuring sanctions achieve their goals. goals. Clubs are cultural assets and the foundation of the community. We are committed to protecting them."

Earlier, billionaire Roman Abramovich announced to sell Chelsea to bring the best for the club. "I want to confirm the rumors that have been mentioned by the media recently regarding the ownership of Chelsea. As I have stated in the past, every decision I make comes from the best interests of the club. .

In the current circumstances, I have made the decision to sell the club, as I believe it is in the best interest of Chelsea, its fans, staff, partners and sponsors. . The process of selling the club will not happen quickly, it will be done in the right order and procedures," Abramovich shared on the Chelsea homepage.

In 19 years of ownership of Chelsea, Abramovich has spent £ 2 billion to invest in the club. This is counted as an interest-free loan that the Stamford Bridge team owes the Russian billionaire.

According to the British press, any owner who wants to acquire Chelsea must pay £2 billion for Abramovich, not including the cost of buying the club. Daily Mail confirmed that Abramovich is letting global bank Raine Group handle the sale of Chelsea on his behalf.

However, the owner of Chelsea decided to write off the team's debt and wanted to set up a charity fund to help victims of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

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