Roman Abramovich’s future at Chelsea in doubt
Russian ‘selling London interests’, pressure on Everton to ditch Usmanov
Matt Lawton, Ellie McDonald,
Martin Hardy,
Rebecca Clancy
Tuesday March 01 2022, 7.45pm, The Times
Chelsea Football Club
Premier League
Football
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Abramovich with César Azpilicueta after Chelsea won the World Club Cup last month
DARREN WALSH/CHELSEA FC VIA GETTY IMAGES
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The future of Chelsea has been plunged into uncertainty after it was revealed that Roman Abramovich is severing his ties with the UK.
The Labour MP Chris Bryant said in parliament yesterday that the Russian-Israeli oligarch is selling his homes in the capital, with the Premier League club — which Abramovich has owned since 2003 — declining the opportunity to deny that it is also now on the market.
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In the past Abramovich, who has loaned the club £1.5 billion during his tenure, has resisted multiple attempts to buy Chelsea, reportedly rejecting offers in excess of £2 billion for the European champions. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has opened the door to potential buyers because of the threat of government sanctions.
On a day when Everton also came under increasing pressure in Westminster to cut their links to the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov — who is the club’s biggest sponsor and who has had his assets frozen by the European Union — the focus also intensified on Abramovich.
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Bryant, the former chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for Russia, has already called for Abramovich to condemn Russia’s invasion or face having his UK assets seized, having questioned whether the 55-year-old billionaire should be allowed to remain Chelsea’s owner.
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Abramovich took over at Chelsea back in 2003
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Abramovich responded to that on Saturday with what has proved a questionable attempt to hand stewardship of the club to the trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation. The move has run into difficulties already because of potential breaches of UK charity law.
Bryant was questioning the time it has taken the government to impose sanctions on Russia’s super-rich when the EU has already acted.
“Roman Abramovich, well, I think he’s terrified of being sanctioned, which is why he’s already going to sell his home tomorrow, and sell another flat as well,” Bryant said. “My anxiety is that we are taking too long about these things.”
Chelsea are usually quick to dismiss talk of Abramovich selling the club, who have enjoyed such success during his time in charge. He has twice seen his team win the Champions League, with five Premier League titles among the multiple domestic honours.
But yesterday the club refused to respond to any questions, either about his £200 million London property portfolio or the ownership of the club.
The situation is causing considerable anxiety at Chelsea, with the head coach, Thomas Tuchel, becoming emotional when asked about the situation at a press conference yesterday. He was repeatedly questioned about Russia and Ukraine and its impact on Chelsea.
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Chelsea manager frustrated at Ukraine questions
“Listen, you have to stop, I am not a politician,” he said. “You have to stop, honestly. I can only repeat. I feel bad to repeat it because I never experience war. So even to talk about it I feel bad because I am very privileged. I sit here in peace. I am doing the best I can but you have to stop asking me these questions. I have no answers for you.
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“You always start the question with the same sentence: ‘We know there are much more important things than football but . . .’ You also decide to ask me about war, and how often do I need to say it? It is horrible. Of course it is horrible. It cannot be any other opinion about it, but why should we be more distracted about it than you at work?
“We try to create an atmosphere to come to work and focus on our work, which is our passion, so we are very grateful and very privileged to have it and it is not that big a problem.
“But of course, everybody in Europe more or less has some noise in his head that nobody likes and it is maybe the same for you, and still you try to do your job as good as possible, and it is the same for us.”
Asked specifically about Abramovich’s position at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel said: “The role of Mr Abramovich is not for me to comment because I simply do not know enough about it.
“I think for me as a coach the position does not change too much in the daily business. I am in the daily exchange with Petr Cech [the club’s technical adviser] and I’m in a regular exchange with Marina Granovskaia [the club’s director] about how to improve the first team and this will not stop because they stay in charge, so on a daily business it will not change too much for me I guess.
“I’m not so sure if I’m the person to give messages to the fans on anything else but sport.”
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Abramovich with Tuchel after last year’s Champions League final win in Porto
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Abramovich’s UK investor visa expired in 2018 shortly after the poisonings of the Skripals in Salisbury, which prompted the UK government to cancel work visas for some Russian businessmen. He has since obtained Israeli and Portuguese citizenship and is a less frequent visitor to Britain than in the early years of his ownership of Chelsea.
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For Everton, there are also concerns. While Farhad Moshiri is the club’s majority shareholder, the British- Iranian businessman is the chairman of Usmanov’s company, USM Holdings. The financial support the Russian provides is considered crucial to the plans they have for the Merseyside club, not least concerning the funding for the Premier League club’s new £500 million stadium at Bramley-Moore dock. In 2020 Usmanov’s company paid £30 million to secure the option of the naming rights for Everton’s new 53,000-seater home, while he pays £6 million a season to sponsor the Finch Farm training ground.
Usmanov has been named by the EU Council on a list of 26 people subject to sanctions. In addition to having his assets in the EU frozen, Usmanov will be banned from travelling through the EU, and restrictions include a “prohibition from making funds available”.
While other Premier League clubs have terminated their links with Russian sponsors, Everton have yet to clarify their position. The club did remove Megafon branding from their LED screens last weekend but a statement the club were expected to issue yesterday did not materialise.
Indeed Usmanov issued a statement last night that failed even to reference Everton. Instead he said that he would temporarily be stepping aside in his role as the president of the International Fencing Federation. He wrote: “On 28 February 2022 I became the target of restrictive measures imposed by the European Union. I believe that such [a] decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation. I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation.
“I hereby suspend the exercise of my duties as the president of the International Fencing Federation effective immediately until justice is restored.”
The Premier League’s position is understood to be that Usmanov is a sponsor of Everton, and therefore it is down to the club to take action. However, The Times understands that Usmanov is such a central figure at the club that he has been involved in the appointment of managers.
In a statement to The Times, the Labour MP Margaret Hodge also called for Everton to act swiftly. “Alisher Usmanov is a billionaire oligarch who may have close ties to the Russian government,” she said. “Just as London has become the home of dirty money in recent decades, football has gotten rich off foreign cash. But now in the wake of the barbaric invasion of Ukraine, enough is enough. We must kick Russian-linked money out of football. I fully expect Everton to do the right thing and sever all ties with Usmanov.”
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Usmanov, right, with Putin back in 2013
