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Chelsea’s future is in disarray after the UK government decided to impose sanctions on the club’s owner Roman Abramovich.
It means that any prospective sale of the club is now on hold indefinitely.
A special licence is being set up which will allow the club to continue to operate – staff and players will still be paid, and they can continue to play their fixtures, but only season ticket holders will be allowed to attend games, and the club’s merchandise shop is to be closed.
It means though the club will lose significant amounts of revenue, not only impairing the value of the club for potential investors, but also putting any transfer plans they may have had for the summer into question.
The intention of the move is to stop Abramovich benefitting in any way from his ownership of the club, but whether it is fair to the club’s fans is another issue altogether.
Shirt sponsors Three have already announced their intention to pause their relationship, and other sponsors are reported to be considering their position.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.