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Chelsea effectively controlled by UK government following sanctions on owner

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European soccer champions Chelsea are now effectively controlled by the British government after sanctions were imposed against Russian owner Roman Abramovich on Thursday.

Abramovich, who had been under scrutiny following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had announced he was selling the Premier League club last week.

That process is now on hold, leaving the west London club, ranked by Forbes as the seventh most valuable in world soccer at $3.2 billion, in a state of limbo, operating under a special government licence.

“The licence is a safety net to protect the sport, the Premier League, the wider football pyramid down to the grassroots game, loyal fans and other clubs. It will deprive Mr Abramovich of benefiting from his ownership of the club and mean he cannot circumvent UK sanctions,” the government said in a statement.

The Russian bought the club in 2003 for a reported 140 million pounds ($184 million) and his investment resulted in the most successful era in their history as they won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the Champions League twice.

His purchase of the club helped transform the landscape of English football with Chelsea breaking the stranglehold of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Abramovich had funded Chelsea via 1.5 billion pounds in total loans through Fordstam Limited, the entity through which he owns the club.

In their most recent accounts in December, Chelsea, who reported post-tax losses of 145.6 million pounds ($191.93 million) for the year ended June 30, 2021, said they were “reliant on Fordstam Limited for its continued financial support”.

Yet now there is a huge question mark over the club’s future.

Chelsea said they would seek changes to the licence they are now operating under.

“(We) intend to engage in discussions with the UK Government regarding the scope of the licence. This will include seeking permission for the licence to be amended in order to allow the Club to operate as normal as possible,” the club said in a statement.

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