The club will still be allowed to operate under a special licence but it will be severely impacted by the asset freeze aspect of the sanctions. No more ticket sales will be allowed, player transfers and new contracts will be banned, merchandise sales will also not be allowed but catering services will be permitted. The billionaire’s planned sale of Chelsea FC – which he bought in 2003 – will also not be allowed to go ahead for the time being – and if it does he will not be allowed to benefit from selling the club. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said he and other sanctioned oligarchs are “complicit in [Putin’s] aggression” and the “blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society,” Ms Truss said, adding: “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 oligarchs will be subject to a travel ban, barred from entering or leaving Britain, and will have their UK assets frozen. They are also subject to a transport ban which means Abramovich’s private jet will also be banned from entering or leaving the UK, whether or not he’s on board. While the sanctions against him throw Chelsea’s future in doubt, ministers sought to reassure the club it would not be “unnecessarily harmed”. In a tweet, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said holding those who have “enabled the Putin regime to account” was the priority. 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,” she wrote. On Wednesday, there were 20 credible interested parties looking at a potential Chelsea takeover, including British businessman Nick Candy.
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