London – (AFP) – The accounts and credit cards of English club Chelsea have been temporarily frozen after the British government imposed sanctions on its Russian owner Roman Abramovich, according to press reports.
All assets of the Russian billionaire were frozen Thursday, except for the club, which was allowed to continue “football-related activities”.
But the European champions cannot function as an institution and have been banned from selling match tickets or merchandise.
Several media outlets, including “The Times”, reported that banks had frozen Chelsea’s accounts and credit cards.
Abramovich was one of seven Russian oligarchs who were sanctioned by the British government over their country’s invasion of Ukraine and their closeness to President Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich had previously announced that he would sell the club he bought in 2003 and achieved 19 titles during his reign.
And Chelsea had said in a statement Thursday that “by virtue of its 100 percent ownership of Chelsea FC and its affiliated entities, Chelsea FC is subject to the same sanctions regime as Abramovich. But the UK government has issued a general license allowing Chelsea FC to continue certain activities.
“We intend to engage in discussions with the UK government regarding the scope of the license.”
This will include seeking permission to amend the license in order to allow the club to operate as normally as possible. We will also seek guidance from the UK government on the impact of these measures on the Chelsea Foundation and its important work in our communities.”
Abramovich announced last week that he had made the “very difficult” decision to sell Chelsea and vowed that the proceeds would go to the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The license allows the club to continue paying staff and players’ wages and the costs of hosting matches at its stadium, “Stamford Bridge”, but the travel costs for matches abroad have been set at twenty thousand pounds per match, which may cause him a problem in his matches outside his home in the Champions League, the first of which is when he is a guest on the The French night, Wednesday, in the second leg of the final price (he won the first leg 2-0).
