This weekend, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich announced that he has relinquished control of Chelsea Football Club, which he has owned since 2003.
“I have always taken decisions in the best interest of the club,” he wrote in a press release, but did not give a direct reason for his move.
However, it is believed that the reason is that Abramovich is one of the people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and is risking sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Now comes the information that Abramovich wants to sell Chelsea.
– Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, and he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Weiss tells the Swiss newspaper Hints.
Sanctions risk
Wyss further says he was offered to buy the club.
– On Tuesday, I and three other people received an offer to buy Chelsea from Abramovich, he said.
– I have to wait four to five days. Abramovich wants a lot at the moment. As you know, Chelsea owes him two billion pounds. But Chelsea does not have the money. This means that those who buy Chelsea need to compensate Abramovich.
according to Sky Sports Information, however, the club is not for sale.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom to impose targeted sanctions on the oligarchs in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, by freezing assets and preventing them from entering the West. Roman Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned, but according to many media outlets, he is close to Putin, and the British Home Office in 2019 identified links between him and the Russian state.
Since Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, the club’s men’s team has won basically everything that can be won and the women’s team was in the Champions League final last year and won the Premier League in the last two years.
Read more: Abramovich’s plans for Chelsea are being investigated
Read more: Roman Abramovich gives up control of Chelsea
Read more: Roman Abramovich is said to have mediated between Ukraine and Russia
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