[Football] Chelsea - up for sale, Roman Abramovich sanctioned, not up for sale etc

[amexer]

Which given the government are involved, will fail.

Thought it would be Boris fault

 

[South west gull]

Let’s hope that the vast majority weren’t season tickets holders either! Getting a home ticket will prove a big challenge.

Chelsea are a 2 Bob club yet again

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Jim in the West]

It was £16m at the beginning of the year - we have no way of knowing how much has been injected by RA before sanctions were imposed.

Isn't it more logical that he would have taken money OUT?

 

[Lower West Stander]

Perhaps that doyen everything virtuous, Mr John Terry, can appeal given how much he loves his oligarch friend.

 

[Commander]

If the PL had any sort of moral compunction

You should have stopped at that nonsense.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Sanctions are intended to be a temporary thing, surely? The point of them is to encourage a change in behaviour, at which point they are lifted; and the person can once again access their assets. It can't be reasonable to apply sanctions, seize and sell off someone's assets, before lifting the sanctions when they have nothing left. Freezing assets is not the same thing as siezing them.

The point of this that Chelsea surely can't be sold without the owner's agreement, nor at a price below his valuation, even if the money is to be held in an account which he cannot access in the meantime.

 

[Jim in the West]

Sanctions are intended to be a temporary thing, surely? The point of them is to encourage a change in behaviour, at which point they are lifted; and the person can once again access their assets. It can't be reasonable to apply sanctions, seize and sell off someone's assets, before lifting the sanctions when they have nothing left. Freezing assets is not the same thing as siezing them.

The point of this that Chelsea surely can't be sold without the owner's agreement, nor at a price below his valuation, even if the money is to be held in an account which he cannot access in the meantime.

The problem is - Ukraine has been invaded, bombed, impoverished. Its citizens murdered. How can that be undone? What acts would cause the sanctions to be lifted? I wouldn't trust Boris Johnson, but I can't imagine any circumstance where Russia would withdraw completely from Ukraine, and hence sanctions could be lifted. If you read the OFSI document, Abramovich is closely implicated in enabling the invasion. How can he get his assets back?

 

[gripper stebson]

Chelsea / Abramovic sanctioned.

Cannot sell any more tickets. Club shop must close. Cannot buy any new players.

Blimey.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/chelsea...bramovich-added-to-uks-russian-sanctions-list

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2...source=tw&utm_medium=orgsoc&utm_campaign=none

 

[beorhthelm]

The problem is - Ukraine has been invaded, bombed, impoverished. Its citizens murdered. How can that be undone? What acts would cause the sanctions to be lifted? I wouldn't trust Boris Johnson, but I can't imagine any circumstance where Russia would withdraw completely from Ukraine, and hence sanctions could be lifted. If you read the OFSI document, Abramovich is closely implicated in enabling the invasion. How can he get his assets back?

so then its confiscation and guilt by association without trial? you might agree with that, its the kind of trick i'd expect of other nations where rule of law isnt followed but government decide things on a whim. like Russia.
and where does this leave the theory the Oligarchs can pressure Putin to change direction? unless there is future were sanctions are lifted and things return relatively to normal, then there is no leverage on Putin from any sanction and little incentive for him to change. just waiting for a coup or revolution in Russia.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

This is only in place till May 31st

Window opens on the 1st June.

How lucky

 

[Live by the sea]

The problem is - Ukraine has been invaded, bombed, impoverished. Its citizens murdered. How can that be undone? What acts would cause the sanctions to be lifted? I wouldn't trust Boris Johnson, but I can't imagine any circumstance where Russia would withdraw completely from Ukraine, and hence sanctions could be lifted. If you read the OFSI document, Abramovich is closely implicated in enabling the invasion. How can he get his assets back?

How exactly is Abramovich closely implicated in enabling the invasion !!

What rubbish - you have zero proof & I strongly suspect he was against the war . Why would he by for it, he’s earning a fortune through his energy companies & does a lot of charity work . None of it he needs to do. He is clever yes as he’s used Putin and manufactured a friendship to help him massively but that doesn’t mean he agrees with the invasion . Far from it .

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Dullard in action on Sky

 

[Jim in the West]

How exactly is Abramovich closely implicated in enabling the invasion !!

What rubbish - you have zero proof & I strongly suspect he was against the war . Why would he by for it, he’s earning a fortune through his energy companies & does a lot of charity work . None of it he needs to do. He is clever yes as he’s used Putin and manufactured a friendship to help him massively but that doesn’t mean he agrees with the invasion . Far from it .

I just read the document on the UK Govt website - it's pretty clear. To quote the intro.... "ABRAMOVICH is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin, with whom ABRAMOVICH has had a close relationship for decades. This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the Government of Russia....."

Towards the end it also states: "Furthermore, ABRAMOVICH is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, via Evraz PLC, a steel manufacturing and mining company in which ABRAMOVICH has a significant shareholding and over which ABRAMOVICH exercises effective control. Evraz PLC is or has been involved in providing financial services, or making available funds, economic resources, goods or technology that could contribute to destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine – which includes potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have been used in the production of tanks."

 

[Creaky]

Isn't it more logical that he would have taken money OUT?

Why? - I’m sure he had far more liquid assets available that have no doubt now been moved to a “safe” place where he still has access to them. Any money immediately available from Chelsea would be but a drop in the ocean.

 

[Swansman]

Ironically, the end result of this is probably that Abramovich stays as Chelsea owner, resuming full control once this neo-McCarthyism ends.

 

[Jim in the West]

Why? - I’m sure he had far more liquid assets available that have no doubt now been moved to a “safe” place where he still has access to them. Any money immediately available from Chelsea would be but a drop in the ocean.

True - but one trait that rich people seem to have is that they care about every last penny. Also, I suspect RA's loans (at least in part) would be repayable on demand, so it would have been very easy for him to take out £10m (say). He moved one of his yachts from Barcelona last week, and was apparently desperately trying to sell various property in London (much less liquid than cash loans to CFC). I imagine he would have had a team of people looking at all possible ways of removing/liquidating assets in the UK and EU.

 

[dazzer6666]

Sanctions are intended to be a temporary thing, surely? The point of them is to encourage a change in behaviour, at which point they are lifted; and the person can once again access their assets. It can't be reasonable to apply sanctions, seize and sell off someone's assets, before lifting the sanctions when they have nothing left. Freezing assets is not the same thing as siezing them.

The point of this that Chelsea surely can't be sold without the owner's agreement, nor at a price below his valuation, even if the money is to be held in an account which he cannot access in the meantime.

Correct - Club won’t be sold unless he wants to sell it, but any sale would need to be approved under the licence and any proceeds would remain subject to the sanctions order. Quite how the sanctions are lifted given the situation is anyone’s guess - most likely will be many, many years (will be extended before the end May deadline).

Also, sponsors now starting to ‘review’ their involvement including Three (£40m deal)

 

[clapham_gull]

so then its confiscation and guilt by association without trial? you might agree with that, its the kind of trick i'd expect of other nations where rule of law isnt followed but government decide things on a whim. like Russia.
and where does this leave the theory the Oligarchs can pressure Putin to change direction? unless there is future were sanctions are lifted and things return relatively to normal, then there is no leverage on Putin from any sanction and little incentive for him to change. just waiting for a coup or revolution in Russia.

The threshold for sanctions is very high and the Oligarchs have been utilising the very best and most expensive legal minds in London to head this off.

They have failed.

This hasn't been done so that the Oligarchs can pressure Putin to change direction. I presume the Government, the USA and the EU are working on that basis that a number of assets and money frozen are actually owned by Putin.

He is rumoured to be one of the richest people on the planet.

 

[franks brother]

So Abramovich is not allowed to own Chelsea, but a Saudi crown prince is allowed to own Newcastle Utd? How does that work?

 

[Bry Nylon]

So Abramovich is not allowed to own Chelsea, but a Saudi crown prince is allowed to own Newcastle Utd? How does that work?

I must have missed the bit where Abramovich isn't allowed to own Chelsea