Sanctions against Abramovich
Chelsea FC before takeover by US consortium
04/30/2022, 09:33 am
Shortly after the attack on Ukraine, the British government imposed harsh sanctions on oligarch Roman Abramovich for his alleged closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This also applies to Chelsea FC, which is for sale. The bidding must end soon.
A consortium led by American entrepreneur Todd Boehly is said to have the best chance of taking over the English Premier League club Chelsea FC. As the American “Wall Street Journal” reports, investors should enter into preferential talks with the top English club. A purchase price of more than three billion dollars is under discussion. Boehly is also a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club.
It was announced on Friday that the British chemical company Ineos had entered the race, but the offer may have come too late. As the holding company around boss Jim Ratcliffe announced, it offers 4.25 billion pounds (around 5.05 billion euros) for the purchase of the London football club. According to English media reports, the offer should be far above the previous bids of other interested parties. Ineos has invested heavily in sports in recent years, in addition to football also in Formula 1, sailing and cycling.
A purchase of the club must also be approved by the British government and the Premier League. The state’s permission is necessary because the assets of the previous club owner Roman Abramovich have been frozen.
The Russian billionaire had put the club up for sale before being hit with harsh sanctions by the UK government over its alleged closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions also hit Chelsea. The London club are currently operating under a special license that will expire on May 31. The English government only warned the traditional club during the week that “Chelsea’s time is very short at the moment”.