Roman Abramovich Thread

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Doom and gloomers.

 

Calm your tits guys. Roman will come through this and it won't affect his ownership of the club

Edited February 24, 2022 by MrExcalibur100

[MoroccanBlue 5,296]

Nothing has been proven though? 
 

There was suspicion/links that Roman was using political influence, and he received the necessary punishment of being barred from the UK until further notice. Now they want to seize his assets when they still haven’t proven anything, such as direct links to Putin?

Cries of desperation really. 

[Blue Armour 4,278]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Nothing has been proven though? 
 

There was suspicion/links that Roman was using political influence, and he received the necessary punishment of being barred from the UK until further notice. Now they want to seize his assets when they still haven’t proven anything, such as direct links to Putin?

Cries of desperation really. 

That's what I recall. At least based on the outcome of the Navalny case, where he vehemently denied links.

[cosmicway 1,323]

Brexit junta have made NATO the laughing stock of the world.
Now it's Abramovich to blame !

[milka 3,346]

Legal experts believe that the Government would agree an official “carve out” of Chelsea from any prospective actions to avoid significant impact on a club that employs hundreds of people and is supported by thousands.

That would mean Chelsea could continue as a business, including receiving future broadcast money from the Premier League and Uefa - and paying out wages to staff.

 

'Take Chelsea FC from Roman Abramovich': Commons is shown bombshell leaked documents accusing billionaire of links to Russian corruption and paying for political influence - as Labour demands his assets and £152m home are seized 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10547277/Take-Chelsea-Abramovich-Bombshell-documents-accuse-billionaire-links-corruption.html

Edited February 24, 2022 by milka

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

Those 2019 links were investigated. A politician grandstanding while a country is being invaded. I could be wrong, but I don't see Roman being forced to sell. He is not and has not been involved in the day to day operations of the club. If they seized his holding company, the club operates fine with that holding company being held. It is not like when they hold assists of a high level official in another company, they never give it back unless it is proven to be involved in illegal activity. People will posture, opposition fans will say a bunch of things, and in a month or less it is going to fade.  

[Fulham Broadway 16,835]

5 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

Those 2019 links were investigated. A politician grandstanding while a country is being invaded. I could be wrong, but I don't see Roman being forced to sell. He is not and has not been involved in the day to day operations of the club. If they seized his holding company, the club operates fine with that holding company being held. It is not like when they hold assists of a high level official in another company, they never give it back unless it is proven to be involved in illegal activity. People will posture, opposition fans will say a bunch of things, and in a month or less it is going to fade.  

Thats my thinking. Politically, westerm politicians will huff and puff, give it 4-6 months things will roughly be back to normal. Either that or we've all been nuked 🥴

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

28 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Thats my thinking. Politically, westerm politicians will huff and puff, give it 4-6 months things will roughly be back to normal. Either that or we've all been nuked 🥴

Tell that to the millions of refugees that will flee to Western Europe 

Nothing will be back to normal. This move marks the beginning of  a new time. It’s hard to believe after decades of peace but this attack was not just directed at Ukraine . It is clear putin wants to restore the borders of the soviet union

Freedom and democracy are now at stake

there will be a new Cold War 

[Fulham Broadway 16,835]

Thats what you get when Putins been in power for 22 years, thinks he's invincible.

[Blue Armour 4,278]

57 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Thats my thinking. Politically, westerm politicians will huff and puff, give it 4-6 months things will roughly be back to normal. Either that or we've all been nuked 🥴

Kind of shows how out of touch these politicians are with reality.

Seize a football club! Yeah, that will save millions of lives.

[Fulham Broadway 16,835]

14 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

Kind of shows how out of touch these politicians are with reality.

Seize a football club! Yeah, that will save millions of lives.

We need a World leader Hunger Games - I'd pay to watch that

[DDA 9,690]

On 22/02/2022 at 15:13, Seymop said:

I did make this point under another topic but — in my opinion the current Ukraine situation could have massive repercussions for our club. Roman has been an amazing owner of our club but as a known close associate of Putin, he is likely to get the full might of any business and personal sanctions. Putin may even put pressure on Roman to cut ties with the U.K ???? We all pray it doesn’t happen but it must be the single  biggest worry  for all Blues supporters 

 

I wouldn't say single.. but yes it is a worry.

[Tautvix 1,321]

Abramovich's money is definitely covered in blood and I fully agree that all his assets should be seized immediately. He is a part of Russia's regime and sanctions need to be taken.

[cosmicway 1,323]

It's the pot calling the kettle black.
UK's brexit government is part and parcel of the KGB and Putin and they are pulling everybody's leg - including Biden.

[Superblue 6,370]

2 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

We need a World leader Hunger Games - I'd pay to watch that

Boris would probably still find a way of coming back from the brink...

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

 

[NikkiCFC 7,942]

 

[Vesper 28,778]

Roman Abramovich spared Russia sanctions despite MP's claim he should not be allowed to own Chelsea

Plus, why Chelsea would be left with a £1.5bn headache if Abramovich's flow of riches is stemmed

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/02/24/roman-abramovich-should-not-allowed-Chelsea-says-labour-mp-chris/

Premier League billionaires Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov on Thursday night escaped British sanctions as Boris Johnson froze hundreds of British-based Russian assets in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. 

Calls in Parliament for Abramovich to dramatically lose his ownership of Chelsea had been raised earlier, with Chris Bryant, the Labour MP, citing a document linking him with “corrupt activity”. 

Ministers are still “looking at sanctioning more complex individual cases”, sources said on Thursday, but there was no mention of Abramovich or the Everton investor in the Prime Minister’s initial list. Usmanov does face United States Treasury sanctions.

Elsewhere, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sparked havoc for European sport, including: 

• The Champions League final was finally stripped from St Petersburg, but Wembley is ruled out of the running for May
• Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen led a drivers boycott, calling on Formula One to abandon the Russian Grand Prix
• Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic said Russia should not be allowed to host World Cup qualifiers next month
• Ukrainian domestic sport was suspended after the government declared martial law and a 30-day state of emergency.

The Prime Minister had hit Russia with what he said was its “largest and most severe” package of sanctions hours after Bryant had prompted speculation that Abramovich could face action. 

Five oligarchs including Russia’s youngest billionaire were on the list of more than 100 who face a ban from travel to the UK, the freezing of their assets and restrictions barring any UK firm doing business with them. 

No reasons were given by Government sources for the exclusion of Abramovich, who had been named by Bryant earlier as being linked in a 2019 Home Office document to Mr Putin’s Government and “corrupt activity and practice.” 

Using parliamentary privilege, Bryant told MPs: ‘An example of this is Abramovich admitting in court proceedings that he paid for political influence. Therefore HMG is focused on ensuring individuals linked to illicit finance and malign activity are unable to base themselves in the UK and will use the relevant tools at its disposal, including immigration powers to prevent this’.” 

Bryant added: “That is nearly three years ago and yet remarkably little has been done in relation. Surely Mr Abramovich should no longer be able to own a football club in this country? Surely we should be looking at seizing some of his assets including his £152 million home? And making sure that other people who have had Tier 1 Visas like this are not engaged in malign activity?” 

It is understood the Government is preparing a further sanctions list of Russian oligarchs, banks and companies but refused to “speculate” on future names. On Tuesday, another Labour veteran, Margaret Hodge, had cited Abramovich and Usmanov as she said current powers against Russia were too “narrow”. 

Since 2018, when Abramovich withdrew his UK visa application, he has acquired both Israeli and Portuguese citizenship. He attended a match at Stamford Bridge for the first time in three years in November. 

The Chelsea owner, now 55, has repeatedly refuted any suggestion that he has direct links with Putin. Last December, he settled a high-profile libel lawsuit brought against HarperCollins after claiming that a book, Putin’s People, contained “false and defamatory” statements regarding the 2003 acquisition of Chelsea. 

In contrast, Usmanov has a £30 million first-refusal agreement in place for the naming rights at Everton’s new Bramley-Moor Dock stadium, said in 2010: “I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin’s problem.” 

In 2011 the High Court heard that Mr Abramovich had used the well-connected oligarch Boris Berezovsky as his “political godfather” to help him conduct business deals in a country where police were “corrupt” and courts “open to manipulation”. 

The court heard the Chelsea owner believed it was his “moral obligation” to hand Mr Berezovsky £1.3billion to fund his lavish lifestyle. 

Bill Browder, an Anglo-American financier who has been declared Putin’s public enemy number one, said: “Why do these top Russian oligarchs continue to be untouched perplexes me.” 

---

Chelsea's billionaire owner tipped to find a way to continue investing in club

Analysis by Tom Morgan

Roman Abramovich's private jet touched down on the tarmac of his native Moscow on Thursday night. The question for Chelsea now is whether his long-term future as owner remains on firm ground. 

There was no confirmation the secretive 55-year-old was actually on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that flight trackers showed leaving Monaco, where his superyacht is also often docked. 

Yet if some MPs now get their way, that flight will be just the first of many Abramovich assets sent packing from Western Europe due to claims about his supposed association with Vladimir Putin which he has always refuted.

To the relief of associates and Chelsea fans alike, he was spared inclusion on Boris Johnson's list of "100 new entities and individuals" who "we’ll be imposing asset freezes on". 

However, two days after Labour's Margaret Hodge named him among those to "escape" a new sanction approach that, she said, was "too narrow", another party veteran has launched a fresh attack. 

Using parliamentary privilege, Chris Bryant told MPs he had a leaked Home Office document which he said evidenced concerns about alleged links to corruption. "Surely Mr Abramovich should no longer be able to own a football club in this country," he said. "Surely we should be looking at seizing some of his assets including his £152m home?" 

Replying to Bryant, senior minister Mark Spencer had said the Government was already taking "very strong action against high-profile Russian individuals who are of concern". But for Chelsea supporters the outburst was the clearest signal yet that their club may yet become collateral damage as the West responds to Russia's war with sanctions rather than bullets. 

Abramovich has repeatedly distanced himself from direct links with the Putin regime, and associates insist Chelsea would be sheltered even he was added to any list. However, as Government sources warned on Thursday night that "there will be more" sanctions to come", any attempts at all to disrupt the heavy flow of a pipeline of Russian cash into Stamford Bridge will spark alarm. 

A club fanbase which regular sings "we've won it all" would have won virtually none of it without more than £1.5billion worth of loans which have been pumped into the club by Abramovich since he purchased the club in 2003. 

Matchday revenue is dwarfed by some of their rivals largely due to his decision in 2018 to shelve a £1billion stadium redevelopment. With no new 60,000-seater venue to rely on, the European champions continue to regularly dip into funds which he pays into the club and then extracts when TV money and transfer fees come through. 

'I don't think Chelsea will be negatively impacted'

Annual accounts for Fordstam Ltd, Chelsea’s parent company, detail in stark terms how the club remains heavily reliant on the Russian, even after a remarkable era of success both on the pitch and in the transfer market. 

Last season, Abramovich injected around £150million and withdrew around £130million to end the year loaning the club an overall £19.9million, and taking  the total related-party loans to £1.514 billion. Intriguingly, the loans are due to be repaid to Camberley International Investments Ltd, a British Virgin Island entity. It is certain that separate fund is owned by Abramovich, but more detail is elusive given the source's offshore status.

Equally, as the loans are from the owner himself and interest free, Chelsea can refer to themselves as effectively debt free, because if Abramovich sold the club he would have to repay himself from the proceeds. This year accounts are looking rosy, with a healthy profit expected on player sales for this season. Fordstam accounts detail three players were signed in the summer for an initial outlay of £109.7million and 13 players were sold for £103.7million.

Kieran Maguire, a football finance author and lecturer at Liverpool University, reassured Chelsea fans that they will not be left in a situation where the players are not paid, whatever the Government decides to do.

 "I don't think Chelsea will be negatively impacted because Roman Abramovich will have his assets and his cash in a variety of locations around the world," Maguire told Telegraph Sport. 

"He's not a British citizen, he can invest money into Chelsea, indirectly through companies such as Camberley investments, so I don't see how that could be prevented in the future. I think he is a very astute individual and will do the do the utmost to minimise risk in relation to his wealth and investments and having connections with offshore companies is one way of achieving that."

The Chelsea owner's relationship with the UK had appeared to be softening since he withdrew his visa application in 2018. He attended Stamford Bridge for the first time in three years in November and has been praised for his anti-Semitism campaigning.

But the Government will be well aware that Abramovich remains as litigious as ever over any suggestion he is influenced by the Kremlin. Last December, he settled a high-profile libel lawsuit brought against HarperCollins after claiming that a book, Putin’s People, contained “false and defamatory” statements claiming the Russian leader ordered the Chelsea purchase.

While there was much speculation on Thursday as one of Abramovich's planes took flight back to Russia, Chelsea can be confident their £10billion man, for now, would use every asset at his disposal to ensure he is going nowhere.