Abramovich handing over stewardship of Chelsea to trustees of their charitable foundation

Skylon Niagara said:
Jumping before he’s pushed?

If he’s unable to put more money in, that’ll have massive repercussions for Chelsea
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It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
 
WDYGH said:
Yes. Agreed. It should be taken off him. No point in having sanctions against him and allowing his most valuable UK asset to continue unabated. I understand there would potentially need to be a legal (and potentially political) process but the guy is a scumbag, who has unequivocally nailed his colours to Putin’s mast.

Unfortunate as it is, Chelsea is a company, owned by a sanctioned individual, whose UK assets are being frozen (if not already).

He is a persona non grata in this country and any proceeds from a sale should not go his way. I have no idea to what extent the charity trust at Chelsea would be capable of being an arms length organisation but the money from a sale should go to the Ukraine and it’s people, whether to aid refugees or whatever.
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Disgraceful statement no mention of the illegal invasion, or concern for the innocent Ukrainians under attack, from the pal who made them both billionaires.

He's just trying to protect his assets as he knows the writing is on the wall.

UK needs to make it clear that Russian allies of Putin are not welcome or permitted in the UK. Take their assets, we can use them to help rebuild Ukraine. Abramovich can sing for his Chelsea loans.
 
Oranje said:
It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
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Was he not funding the potential stadium move/stadium upgrade? I know it’s shelved for now but presumably plans to do it in the future
 
Very ambiguous story, if 'stewardship' means full control and financing Chelsea will have to sell and quickly.

He's plowed in just shy of £1.5bn since taking over in soft loans.
 
Oranje said:
It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
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And the club / UK can tell him to go fuk himself.
 
WDYGH said:
Yes. Agreed. It should be taken off him. No point in having sanctions against him and allowing his most valuable UK asset to continue unabated. I understand there would potentially need to be a legal (and potentially political) process but the guy is a scumbag, who has unequivocally nailed his colours to Putin’s mast.

Unfortunate as it is, Chelsea is a company, owned by a sanctioned individual, whose UK assets are being frozen (if not already).

He is a persona non grata in this country and any proceeds from a sale should not go his way. I have no idea to what extent the charity trust at Chelsea would be capable of being an arms length organisation but the money from a sale should go to the Ukraine and it’s people, whether to aid refugees or whatever.
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I think this act is to prevent the club being taken from him now there is expected to be protection now under UK Law .
No idea who runs chelsea foundation and how it will be returned nor funded in the intermittent period . As you say he has chosen to step away from them rather than Putin .
 
Will Chelsea - the original get rich (and buy success) quick club - be the first to suffer a fall into oblivion because of a billionaire withdrawing? Not saying that's what is on the horizon here, but if it did transpire I wonder if a billionaire plaything club, with the associated turnover and debt, is something that is actually possible to transfer into someone else's ownership?
 
Chelsea will be fine.

If for sale, a London club with their recent success in that league would attract a rich owner no problem.

Whether they would be a good owner that’s the gamble.
 
Empire said:
The first steps of his exit plan from Chelsea in my opinion.
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Think you could be right. Been distant since the visa issues after the Salisbury incident. Think the only games he has been to have been in Russia, UAE and the CL final.

New stadium plans etc all scrapped.
 
Chelsea short term could be in trouble, any Russian is finished at this level. Depending on the treatment from government Chelsea could be in trouble.
 
Skylon Niagara said:
Was he not funding the potential stadium move/stadium upgrade? I know it’s shelved for now but presumably plans to do it in the future
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Seems to have been binned since since this visa issues after the Salisbury poisonings. He lives in Israel now. Chelsea went another route to squeeze more revenue out of existing infrastructure. West Stand Upper converted to an all-hospitality stand and safe standing introduced elsewhere which slightly increases capacity in those stands.
 
In my opinion, and in layman’s terms, he knows that financial sanctions are about to be put in place that prevents him from funding their daily operations under his ownership.

Bytransferring the operational running into the trust, he isn’t the custodian and therefore all finances are controlled by the non Russian trustees. That means Chelsea remain capable of paying bills, wages and associated costs and monthly payments from Sky etc are protected too.

Once the threat of financial sanctions are lifted and whatever happens to Putin, he is back in charge with no points, financial or other penalties/sanctions imposed.

Fifa/UEFA may decide or, through heavy political pressure, be forced to ban all Russian football activity/ownership and by doing what he has done, Abramovich has protected Chelsea.

Just my opinion.
 
Bruce Buck heads the foundation “and the trustees include manager of Chelsea women, Emma Hayes, chief executive of Kick It Out Piara Power, along with Paul Ramos, John Devine and Sir Hugh Robertson.”

Abramovich can still invest until he is sanctioned.

Wise move to separate himself from the club. It may also be an indicator that he’s open to offers.
 
Hasn't sold them, and if he does there'll be plenty of Arab or U.S. billionaires lining up. Can't see it having a huge impact on them.
 
Means he is protecting his interests.
Sky Sports in an over the top frenzy over this. Its all a bit meh !
 
Is this not just a case of him handing over control of Chelsea’s assets to the trust, so that they can’t be taken from him / frozen via any sanctions? Seems to be a clear avoidance measure rather than anything else. I think he’s simply a step ahead of the UK government.
 
He bought Chelsea for £200 million, they are now £1Billon in debt. However the brand is now global . Still some amount of money et to clear for a takeover.
With the kind of people he calls friends , I can’t see a Saudi Arabian or American billionaire willing to pay him that money.
 
Meanwhile Newcastle can happily be owned by a Saudi family as dangerous as any.

A journalist would have been available for comment but he has been beheaded.

At least Abramovich has walked himself (doesn’t excuse any links to putin) without the EPL going through the charade of pretending they care about morality as opposed to ‘wads of cash’
 
Oranje said:
It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
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Agree mate. Any other sugar daddy is likely to be just as shady.
 
I’m no fan of either side of this conflict, this is a very dangerous game being played here,and the innocent people of Ukraine will be the cannon fodder unfortunatel,but the people saying that the Russian’s are corrupt as %^*&,I totally agree but let’s not forget that the Democratic Party in the states have been using the Ukraine as a money laundering scheme since the CIA had the colour revolution in 2013.
Evil bastards at all sides here.
dangerous times.
 
Regardless of what is thought of him he has been by far the best foreign owner of a British club.

He took Chelsea from almost bankruptcy to European giants, changed the transfer game, made the best decisions for the club like sacking managers (which always resulted in them getting a trophy). He genuinely cares about the club and always came across as wanting nothing but the best for him.

But he's Putin's pal so the narrative on here is that he's a prick.
 
GR6Ger said:
This guy is a total prick.

Abramovich isn’t involved with Putin :)
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Yeah, he flew back to Moscow on Friday because Monaco is much colder and less hospitable at this time of year.

And of course he is truly relinquishing control over an asset he has given untold sums to and written off (supposedly) £1.5bn of debt to because he loves charity.

Oh and of course all reported links to Putin and previously sanctions implemented are just spurious rumours, right?
 
Surely if RAs assets are frozen then there would similar ability to wipe out his loan to a UK company. ?
 
He's not calling in his loan. Why would he be at this point as the government could freeze it and who is going to pay it anyway?

Looks to be more of a defensive move from him to stop one of his assets being frozen. Of course the question is how are this charitable trust going to fund the running of the club moving forward.

BBC are saying some of his "associates" may be closely linked to this trust.
 
Oranje said:
It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
Click to expand...

They just announced they lost £145 million last season.
 
DavieM said:
He's not calling in his loan. Why would he be at this point as the government could freeze it and who is going to pay it anyway?

Looks to be more of a defensive move from him to stop one of his assets being frozen. Of course the question is how are this charitable trust going to fund the running of the club moving forward.

BBC are saying some of his "associates" may be closely linked to this trust.
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It’s up to our government to hold their promise of dismantling the holding companies and shell companies of suspected Russians, loyal to Putin.

It shouldn’t be too difficult. Fat Surrey types should burst after an hour with the SAS.
 
One of the principal culprits of the Russian Kleptocracy. Chelsea fans have luxuriated in his largesse for years and it's coming to an end now. Deep down, like some of us with Murray, a few would have wondered and suspected this day would come.
They will have to stick together if they have to build for a new future. It can be done as we have demonstrated but it will be a long road for them. Good luck to them. Like all football clubs these charlatans come and go. The fans are the one constant at any club.
 
Oranje said:
It won’t. Chelsea run a self sustaining business model now.

The biggest repercussion for Chelsea would be if he called in his £1.5bn debt that the club have amassed since 2003.
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure he pumped another £250M loan in a couple of season back. They aren't fully self sustaining yet.

www.forbes.com

Billionaire Roman Abramovich Still Pumping Money Into Chelsea Despite Losing Love For London

New accounts for Chelsea show that the Premier League club is still dependent on Roman Abramovich’s money to complete at the top end of the English Premier League.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com


Edit: Just last season he sanctioned a £20M loan to them as well.
 
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