Abramovich-Putin-Ukraine
Russian multi-billionaire who is the owner of Chelsea since the year 2003, has bought innumerable success to the club since his takeover. From barely qualifying for the champions league spots in the 2002-03 season to winning every single possible club trophy for Chelsea in February 2022, Chelsea and Abramovich have come a long way. In this article we discuss about his background with Chelsea and Vladimir Putin along with the recent war developments between Russia and Ukraine and how they may affect Abramovich's reign at Chelsea.
Abramovich's background with Putin and Yelstin:
After becoming one of the most successful businessmen in Russia after the acquisition of the oil company Sibneft, Abramovich purchased several state owned assets of the former Soviet Union at a subsidised price due to the break up of the state in 1991. This brought him very close to the then President Boris Yelstin who even invited and allowed Abramovich to reside in a house within the Kremlin. Then in 1999 a year before Putin came into power he was elected governer of Chukotka, a provience in Russia.
After Putin came into power in Russia, Abramovich yet had a very close relationship in the Kremlin with him. They grew so close that Abramovich basically became Putin's right hand man. Journalist Chris Hutchins in his biography on Putin has even described Putin and Abramovich's relationship like that of a "father and his favourite son".
Thus this concludes the background and reason why Abramovich is a man of influence in Russia and has been banned from entering the UK for business reasons and investments since 2018. However since he holds an Israeli, Portuguese and Lithuanian passport too, he can still enter the UK occasionally with a visa.
Putin's invasion of Ukraine:
On 25th February 2022, Putin ordered his troops to march into Ukraine and take over the country. Initailly liberating the rebel states of Donestk and Luhansk, he then moved on to create havoc all around the country over the past 2-3 days.
These advancements have caused tension among Ukrainians as well as the west. Thus, it lead to certain sanctions being imposed while some are still underway to be put on Putin and Russia.
Now coming to what concerns us the most with regards to this article, is that a British MP has raised questions about Roman Abramovich also being sanctioned, with respect to Chelsea and his other assets in the UK. A lot of MP's seconded this motion and want his assets frozen including the West London club.
Effect on Chelsea:
Since Roman Abramovich has had a past in which he was so close to Russian Presidents, oligarchs, other members of power and also rumoured to be a member of the KGB; people in Britian want his assets to be frozen for "the greater good", even though Abramovich has not been very active in politics since he resigned as the Governer of Chukotka in 2008.
A couple day's ago, Bloomberg Business UK - one of the most reliable sources for business news stated."Suitors of Chelsea FC are on high alert that billionaire Roman Abramovich is to sell the club. Sports investors and private equity firms have started to draw up potential takeover offers for the team." This clearly shows, the tensions surrounding the potential sale of the club is not completely impossible and may be imminent. Though at the time it may seem unlikely as Roman has Portuguese, Israeli and Lituanian citizenship as well.
Another factor that may play into this "sale of the club" business is that Abramovich has a history of severe rivalry with Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoyskyi who duped Abramovich in a several billion dollar deal as confirmed by Vladimir Putin himself in 2014. This hate against an Ukrainian - although Roman is in the right - may play against himself in this battle to not sell the club.
This noise around the club and war in Russia-Ukraine has even taken a strain on coach Thomas Tuchel and his boys. In his press conference prior to the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool he said,"We should not pretend this is not an issue. The situation for me, my staff, and everyone here at Cobham, the players, is horrible. No-one expected this. It’s pretty unreal.", clearly citing tension among the players and staff at the club he went on to say,"It is distracting us, worrying us, and to a certain degree I can understand it. To a certain degree, I can understand the opinions and the critical opinions towards the club and towards us who, in the end, represent the club."
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Credits:
Bloomberg Business UK
Adam Newson
Daily Mail
The Guardian
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