Chelsea is stopped from selling tickets and merchandise

Chelsea FC was plunged into crisis today as sanctions against Roman Abramovich saw it banned from selling tickets and merchandise, slapped with a transfer ban and limited to a £20,000 spend on away travel. 

Shirt sponsors Three said it was ‘reviewing’ its relationship with Chelsea – setting up a possible wave of corporate boycotts that see the club deprived of tens of millions of pounds worth of revenue and facing financial meltdown. 

Abramovich, who is worth £9.4billion and has close ties to Vladimir Putin, has been prohibited from transactions with UK individuals and businesses – meaning his plan to sell the club is now on hold.

However, ministers could still permit a sale as long as Abramovich does not benefit financially, MailOnline understands.

Chelsea’s status as a ‘significant cultural asset’ means it has been granted a special licence to continue playing, but its owner will be deprived of any profits.

The club has been banned from selling home and away tickets, with only fans who have already bought tickets – including 28,000 season ticket holders – still allowed to attend games.

There is also the prospect that Champions League games will be played effectively behind closed doors, as those tickets are often purchased separately from season tickets.

The licence prohibits Chelsea from spending more than £20,000 on any away game travel, raising serious logistical questions for its Champions League game in Lille next Wednesday.

They play Norwich away tonight and Newcastle at home on Sunday.

A source told Mailonline: ‘Stamford Bridge is not going to be empty … we don’t expect them to play behind closed doors. It does mean there may be some empty seats but not an empty ground.’

Chelsea will not be able to agree any new contracts, preventing it from engaging in the summer transfer market, but existing staff, stadium stewards and players will still be paid. 

It can also continue to receive TV broadcast payments and provide food and drink at matches.

The club – which today marks its 117th birthday – cannot sell any merchandise itself, but retailers who already hold stock can continue to do so, as long as none of the money ends up in Chelsea’s hands.

The licence to continue operating will last until May 31, but can be ‘varied, revoked or suspended’ at any time. If the club were to end up in administration, they would receive a nine point penalty.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said the aim was to ensure that Abramovich cannot ‘benefit from his ownership’. The oligarch’s name was chanted by Chelsea fans during a minute’s applause for Ukraine at Burney on Saturday, leading to widespread condemnation.

Abramovich’s tainted billions have funded the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, winning 21 trophies – including five Premier League titles and the Champions League twice.  

Today’s news has left fans of the club reeling, with one declaring it ‘the end of Chelsea as we know it’ – while rivals mocked the club, saying ‘Stamford Bridge is falling down’.  

Although the shape of Chelsea’s long-term future has naturally been thrown into doubt, but Government ministers were quick to insist any damage would be limited.

Nadine Dorries said on Twitter: ‘Our priority is to hold those who have enabled the Putin regime to account.

‘Today’s sanctions obviously have a direct impact on Chelsea and its fans. We have been working hard to ensure the club & the national game are not unnecessarily harmed by these important sanctions.

‘To ensure the club can continue to compete and operate we are issuing a special licence that will allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches while, crucially, depriving Abramovich of benefiting from his ownership of the club.

‘I know this brings some uncertainty, but the Government will work with the league and clubs to keep football being played while ensuring sanctions hit those intended. Football clubs are cultural assets and the bedrock of our communities. We’re committed to protecting them.’  

Abramovich has changed the face of British football in his time as Chelsea owner, leading the Blues to 21 trophies in 19 years in a clean sweep of all global competitions.

But that era has been brought to a halt amid Vladimir Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Today, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy welcomed Abramovich had ‘at last’ been sanctioned. 

The Labour MP said in a statement: ‘At last! This is the right decision. But it should not have taken the Government weeks.

‘Too few oligarchs linked to Putin’s rogue regime have so far faced sanctions from the UK Government. We are lagging far behind allies in the EU and the US.

‘It is right that, under pressure from Labour, the Government U-turned to strengthen sanctions legislation. 

Ministers must now move faster to continue to close the sanctions gap.’ 

Today a Chelsea Supporters’ Trust spokesman said: ‘The CST notes with concern the Government’s statement regarding the owner.

‘Supporters must be involved in any conversation regarding ongoing impacts on the club and its global fan base.

‘The CST implores the Government to conduct a swift process to minimise the uncertainty over Chelsea’s future, for supporters and for supporters to be given a golden share as part of a sale of the club.’       

British billionaire Nick Candy was the latest high-profile business magnate to throw their hat into the ring for Chelsea’s sale, amid a host of suitors for the Champions League holders.

Swiss tycoon Hansjorg Wyss and American investor Todd Boehly were also in the running, with more than 10 credible parties understood to have been compiling bids.

The Chelsea squad will continue to prepare for Thursday’s Premier League clash at Norwich as normal, but everyone at the club will now set about examining the details of the current situation.     

Mr Abramovich’s one time business partner, Oleg Deripaska, has been hit with the same sanctions – as have Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and four more described as being in Putin’s ‘inner circle’. 

Boris Johnson said: ‘There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.

‘Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss added: ‘Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression.

‘The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.

‘Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine.’ 

The Foreign Office said the oligarchs have a collective net worth of around £15billion.  

Mr Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150million Kensington mansion, a £22million West London penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.

His two superyachts may already be out of reach. £430million Solaris was moored in Barcelona a week ago but is now off the Sicily coast, believed to be heading to Israel, where he holds citizenship.

The £540million Eclipse is currently in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.

In London, his staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m.

Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba, so its sale will be a personal blow to the billionaire industrialist.

Labour’s Chris Bryant, using parliamentary privilege to avoid legal action, alleged the tycoon is selling his home and an apartment because he is ‘terrified of being sanctioned’, adding that he feared the government will soon run out of time to act.      

The UK sanctions list now states that Mr Abramovich ‘is a prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch’.

‘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.

‘This includes tax breaks received by companies linked to ABRAMOVICH, buying and selling shares from and to the state at favourable rates, and the contracts received in the run up to the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

‘Therefore, ABRAMOVICH has received preferential treatment and concessions from Putin and the Government of Russia.’     

Today’s surprise move came as Defence minister James Heappey insisted the bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine was a war crime and called for Putin and Russian generals to be held to account.

Mr Heappey stressed that the West is gathering evidence that can be used in a future prosecution, but said in a round of interviews: ‘What you see on your TV screens is a war crime.’  

The comments came as it was confirmed three people, including a child, died when warplanes bombed the hospital in beseiged Mariupol as pregnant women gave birth in the basement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the attack as an ‘atrocity’ and ‘the ultimate proof of genocide against Ukrainians’.

The hospital, in the besieged city of Mariupol, was hit ‘several times’ by high-explosive Russian bombs – one of which missed the building by yards and left a crater two-stories deep, officials said. Other bombs scored ‘direct hits’, President Zelensky said, wounding at least 17 people.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy Prime Minister, said there can be ‘no doubt’ the hospital was deliberately ‘targeted’ by Russia in a chilling echo tactics used during the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo while Putin’s men were fighting alongside dictator Basahr al-Assad’s troops. Moscow denies targeting civilian facilities.  

Roman Abramovich’s FROZEN fortune: From £3BN Chelsea FC, two superyachts worth combined £1BN, £200M of homes and £314M of planes… the Russian oligarch’s multi-billion assets now sanctioned by UK government

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter for MailOnline

Roman Abramovich has today had at least £3.2billion of UK assets frozen, preventing him carrying out a fire sale of Chelsea FC and his London homes.    

Abramovich is worth £10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m West London penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.  

In London, his staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m. 

Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba. 

But now the Russian oligarch has been prohibited from transactions with UK individuals and businesses – meaning his plan to sell the West London club looks impossible, and may be heading to court. Effective immediately, Chelsea is banned from selling match tickets, signing new players and must even close its club shop.

His two superyachts may already be out of reach. £430million Solaris was moored in Barcelona a week ago but is now off the Sicily coast, believed to be heading to Israel, where he holds citizenship. The £540million Eclipse is currently in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.

The billionaire recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet. The 50-seater aircraft is the world’s most expensive private jet with a base cost of £188m and a rumoured £76m of additional equipment to the billionaire’s taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources. 

It was last tracked to Dubai six days ago. Meanwhile, his £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet – registration LX-Ray – was last seen in Ankara, Turkey, five days ago. 

Abramovich also owns a fleet of supercars valued at more than £16million, believed to be in the UK. Among the high end vehicles are a Porsche 911 GT1 Evo, a Ferrari FXX, a Aston Martin Vulcan and a Maserati MC12 Corsa. The fleet also includes a Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of £2.5m. 

Abramovich has seven children from two of his ex-wives. The eldest, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York, while Arkadiy, 27, is an industrial tycoon with substantial oil and gas investments. 

Sofia, 26, lives in London and the ‘wild child’ ‘of the family, recently posted a message on Instagram attacking Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Less is known about Arina, 20, and Ilya, 18, or Aaron, 11 and Leah Lou, 7, who were both born in New York to his third wife, Dasha. 

Abramovich’s current location is unknown, but he has recently been in Belarus ‘trying to help’ negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine following its illegal invasion of the country.   

As pressure grows to punish anyone seen having aided Putin’s regime, here is a round-up of Abramovich’s assets in Britain, as well as yachts, cars and planes that are strewn across the world.   

Chelsea FC: £3bn

The West London club is the jewel of Abramovich’s empire, so his decision to put it up for sale for a reported £3bn – as revealed today – must have been personally painful. 

Now that is impossible due to the sanctions. 

It is understood that the Russian was targeting American buyers as investment from China, the Far East and Eastern Europe has dried up for clear political reasons, although there are major doubts that any potential buyer will meet his ambitious valuation. 

American bank Raine Group is overseeing the sale, with prospective buyers given until just Friday to file ‘indicative bids’, the NY Times reported – suggesting Abramovich is keen to seal a quick deal. 

Raine Group first acted for Chelsea in 2018 after talks with US private equity firm Silverlake and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe broke up without reaching an agreement. 

The club has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich’s conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell. 

Abramovich wants a minimum of £3bn to sell Chelsea as he invites bids for the club. But there are emerging doubts that the Russian oligarch will receive anywhere near that mark.

There is a sense that securing an American buyer, potentially through a hedge fund, might be the best route towards a sale. 

But Abramovich’s links with a Russian regime that has caused so much destruction in Ukraine could lead to reluctance from interested parties to deal with Chelsea. 

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, worth £4.3bn, claims he has been approached to consider buying Chelsea, potentially as part of a consortium.

‘Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,’ Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.

‘I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now. 

‘Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price.’

However, there is doubt whether a consortium style takeover would have longevity given the huge financial demands expected at a club the size of Chelsea. 

The Russian oligarch has spent time in the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks with a view to transferring part of his wealth there, Sportsmail understands.  

Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth north of £3bn – as much as £4bn – but selling it is now impossible.

It seems inevitable that the Russian businessman will have to lower his expectations, but whether anyone is willing to offer as high as the £3bn that he would consider is unclear.

Abramovich attempted to step back from the daily running of Chelsea on Saturday, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The oligarch has already tried to hand the ‘stewardship and care’ of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation trustees. 

London property empire: £200m +

Chris Bryant claim in the Commons that Abramovich had been looking to sell ‘his home and a flat’ is thought to refer to his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m. 

Staff at his Kensington property, which is on the same road as several high-security embassies, were told to expect viewings, according to The Times. It is not clear yet if he managed it, but lawyers have said this would be unlikely.

Chinese buyers are said to have been interested in the mansion, but a sale could be a drawn out protracted affair given the cost and due diligence agents would have to carry out.

Abramovich has become a less frequent visitor to London in recent years following issues with his entrepreneurial visa. He has Israeli and Portuguese citizenship on top of being a Russian national.

His whereabouts are not known after he was reported to be in Belarus to assist as an unlikely broker in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine on Monday.

Abramovich’s London property portfolio is also said to include a flat in Cheyne Terrace, Chelsea, which was purchased for £8.75million in 2017 and includes a high-tech temperature-controlled wine cellar.

It is close to three other properties that overlook the Thames, bought for £25million, that he had once intended to knock together and turn into a £100million super-home.

However Abramovich, who made his money selling assets acquired from the state following the fall of the Soviet Union, scrapped the plan and sold up after he relented to local uproar.

Abramovich became an Israeli citizen in 2018 after his British visa expired and reportedly owns most of the properties through a holding company called Fordstam

And land registry records show that since the expiration of his visa he transferred 11 properties to the business.

His Kensington Gardens mansion, which originally cost him £90m, is close to the homes of steel magnate Lakshmi Mitta and billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin.

Abramovich also owns homes in Russia, Sardinia, France, the West Indies and the US.  

He lost a number of properties during his 2007 divorce from his second wife Irina, with whom he has five children, including a £30m home on the Riviera called Chateau de la Croe, as well as an estate in Sussex called Fyning Hill, which he had bought for £18million.     

OTHER ASSETS 

Yachts, jets and cars: £1.26bn + 

Despite being highly secretive and preferring a life out of the spotlight, Abramovich has still led a glitzy lifestyle, with two superyachts worth £930m, £16m worth of luxury cars and private planes aplenty. 

The billionaire recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet. 

The 50-seater aircraft is the world’s most expensive private jet with a base cost of £188m and a rumoured £76m of additional equipment to the billionaire’s taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources.

According to flight tracking websites, the plane was flown from Monaco to Moscow on Thursday, amid heightened speculation Abramovich was due to face sanctions. It is unclear if he was actually on board. 

Meanwhile, his £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet – registration LX-Ray – took off today from Turkey headed for an unknown destination, according to unconfirmed reports from Twitter account @RuOligarchJets, run by amateur flight tracker Jack Sweeney. 

His new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is understood to have been built in 2015 for PrivatAir, a Swiss airline operator, but was never handed over to the company as it filed for bankruptcy in 2018.

The plane – which replaces his Boeing 767-33AER which was valued at £128m and is currently on the market – is one of only 250 such aircraft in the world and is primarily owned and operated by major airlines. 

The 787-8 is 187 feet in length, and commercial models are able to carry 223 passengers.

For those who do not own their own Boeing 787 Dreamliner like Mr Abramovich, but still wish to charter one for a flight, they can expect to pay around £56,000 ($74,000) per hour – meaning an eight-four flight from London to New York could cost around £450,000 ($600,000).

Only two such planes are thought to be privately owned – one used by Mexico’s leader as his presidential plane and the other used by UAS International Trip Support, which operates global luxury charter jet service ‘Dream Jet’.

A spokesman for Millhouse, the company that manages the 55-year-old Abramovich’s assets, declined to comment on his purchase of the Boeing 787 when contacted by MailOnline in December. 

Abramovich’s jets, which have two pilots reportedly on £160,000 a year, are personalised inside with a study and supposedly a bedroom with a mirror on the ceiling.

Once asked if the mirror helped improve his sex life, Abramovich replied: ‘No, but it does allow me to shave in bed.’

He also had three Eurocopter helicopters, two of them that were based in England, which meant he could avoid congestion in London. The helicopter pilots were also reportedly paid around £90,000 per year.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea FC owner’s new £430m superyacht Solaris is currently moored in Barcelona’s marina. The 460ft vessel is the most costly custom-made superyacht ever built, with 48 cabins across eight decks, a crew of 60 and space for 36 guests.

Built in Bremerhaven, Germany, Solaris recently completed sea trials and was briefly berthed in Barcelona before moving across to Cape D’Ail near Monaco, and then Antibes.

It is thought to be his second superyacht after the Eclipse, a slightly longer boat which has been valued at £500m. All his guests can be accommodated in luxurious state rooms and travel between the boat’s eight decks by lift.

As well as a gym, sauna, Jacuzzi and at least one swimming pool come as standard on boats such as these and, if the Solaris is anything like the 530ft Eclipse, it will also have a beauty salon, complete with beautician and hairdresser.

Eclipse has a night club with a dance floor but Solaris instead has an outdoor ‘beach club’ at the aft section of the upper deck.

Solaris has a flotilla of 20 high-speed jet-skis and at least one helicopter to ferry guests from ship to shore. And it’s expected that Abramovich will also invest in a personal submarine. 

Abramovich also owns a fleet of supercars valued at more than £16million. Among the high end vehicles are a Porsche 911 GT1 Evo, a Ferrari FXX, a Aston Martin Vulcan and a Maserati MC12 Corsa.

The fleet also includes a Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of £2.5m.

The incredible car collection was first shown off by Abramovich while driving with his friends at the Nurburgring race track in Germany in 2016.

Business interests: Several billion pounds 

Roman Abramovich has a large shareholding in the Russian steelmaking firm whose materials experts say are used to make the military tanks which are invading Ukraine.

The Chelsea owner transferred his shares in Evraz, the London-listed Russian steelmaking giant, directly to himself from an offshore company on February 16, eight days before Vladimir Putin ordered the Ukraine invasion.

Analysts have told Sportsmail that the transfer of the 28.64% shareholding, from Virgin Islands-registered Greenleas International Holdings Ltd, could make it less vulnerable to the sanctions which have followed the invasion.

It could also make the shareholding easier to sell. The value of the shares have plummeted since Putin’s forces attacked Ukraine.

Greggory Kuczyński, director of the Eurasia Program at the Warsaw Institute, told Sportsmail: ‘There was a risk that this offshore company would become a subject of sanctions. Evraz steel is used to build tanks, amongst other things. 

‘The company is important for the Russian arms industry, in this sense. It is important for Russia’s war plans, including with regard to Ukraine.’

A spokesperson for Abramovich said Evraz in Russia only produced steel for ‘rail and construction.’ 

In a 2017 document produced by Evraz as part of an investigation into steel importation in the US, Evraz said its Chicago operations produced ‘several products critical to US National Security… such as armoured plate for the US military.’

Evraz could not be reached for comment by Sportsmail.

The Warsaw Institute, an international relations think tank specializing in Eastern Europe, is uncertain whether Abramovich also owns shares in the Russian oil giant Rosneft, having invested nearly £225million in shares when it floated in 2006. 

Rosneft is one of Russia’s largest producers of crude oil and another major supplier of its military. The Rosneft website, which includes company details, was not accessible from the UK on Tuesday.

It is understood that Abramovich has used Jewish connections in Ukraine to attempt to broker peace discussions between Russia and the country it has invaded. 

Abramovich has substantial business interests in Ukraine, with an Evraz plant in the Donbass area of the country since 2010.

Abramovich can ill afford a prolonged war and sanctions designed to strangle and collapse the entire Russian economy, because he has so much invested in it.