Russian Roman Abramovich Hands Over Care Of Chelsea Football Club To Charitable Foundation
A statement published on behalf of Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has said that he has passed on "stewardship and care" of the club to the Chelsea Foundation.
Russian Abramovich, who bought Chelsea in 2003, made the decision following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, led by president Vladimir Putin.
The announcement was made on Chelsea's official website less than 24 hours before Sunday's EFL Cup final against Liverpool.
Abramovich's statement read: "During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities.
"I have always taken decisions with the Club's best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.
"I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans."
The trustees of the Chelsea Foundation who have been given this responsibility by Abramovich are Bruce Buck, John Devine, Emma Hayes, Piara Powar, Paul Ramos and Sir Hugh Robertson.
Roman Abramovich pictured in 2021 celebrating Chelsea's Champions League final win over Man City
IMAGO/Adam Davy
The move came towards the end of a week in which Abramovich was named in British parliament by MP Chris Bryant.
Mr Bryant revealed that Abramovich had been flagged as a person of interest by the UK's Home Office three years ago due to alleged links to the Russian state.
"I've got hold of a leaked document from 2019, from the Home Office, which says in relation to Mr Abramovich: 'As part of HMG's [Her Majesty's government] Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices,'" Bryant told the House of Commons, as reported by The Guardian.
Bryant went on to allege that Abramovich had previously admitted to paying for "political influence", before suggesting that the Russian should have some of his assets seized and should not be allowed to own Chelsea FC.
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On Friday night, The Times published quotes from a financial expert who suggested that Chelsea's long-term future could be in jeopardy if Abramovich's assets were seized or frozen because he could order the club to pay back back £1.5billion that it owes him.
Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire said: "If he feels he is being made a scapegoat for the activities of Putin then the worst-case scenario is he tries to call in the loan.
"Then we've got a crisis. He and Putin could argue that it is the British government that has destroyed Chelsea Football Club.
"There could be a lot of misrepresentation and accusations made from all parties if the British government does go down this route.
"But I suspect this government will not want to upset football fans as we have a populist government. I suspect Chelsea's legal team would be going through all the options."
However, Abramovich does not have any intention of recalling his loans to the club, nor has he put the club up for sale, according to Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol.
Solhekol, writing on Twitter after Abramovich's statement was published, said that the Russian's motivation for "stepping back" was to "protect Chelsea from the attention he's getting".
The Sky Sports journalist also said: "Nothing is going to change as far as the day-to-day running of Chelsea is concerned.
"Only long-term strategic decision making powers are being handed over to the Chelsea Foundation. Everything else remains the same. Football matters, budgets etc not affected."