Chelsea Football Club is among the assets of the Russian Roman Abramovich frozen by British government after he was sanctioned for his close links with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Last week Abramovich announced that he was selling Chelsea following Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
The process is now on hold and Chelsea is operating with a special government license for them to keep playing.
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“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 benefitting from his ownership of the club and mean he cannot circumvent UK sanctions,” the government said in a statement.
This all leaves Chelsea restricted on selling new tickets for the upcoming matches, selling merchandise at its shop and the club cannot buy players at the moment.
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The football club said it would seek changes to the licence under which it must now operate.
“(We) intend to engage in discussions with the UK Government regarding the scope of the licence,” Chelsea said in a statement.
Source – AlJazeera, Sky Sports, CNN
