It is a decision with serious consequences taken by the British government towards Roman Abramovich.
The owner of Chelsea, close to Vladimir Putin, is impacted by the decisions taken following the war in Ukraine.
The British have announced, according to information from The Times, that all British assets owned by the Russian shareholder are now frozen.
This includes the Chelsea club, which he said was put up for sale last week.
The London club will only be able to operate under a special license.
In addition, the sale process is temporarily suspended, according to the same source.
Massive news: Roman Abramovich sanctioned.
All UK assets frozen.
Chelsea can still operate under a special license but sale now on hold.
Club will not be allowed to sell any more tickets - only season ticket holders can go to games for the foreseeable future.
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) March 10, 2022
Other decisions also impact the life of the Chelsea club, which must face Lille next Wednesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Indeed, the reigning European champion can no longer sell tickets for his next home or away matches, thus depriving the club of significant ticketing revenue.
Only holders of a current subscription for this season will be able to attend the meetings.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: the situation of Chelsea, owned by Russian Abramovich, is “very complicated” according to Tuchel
Transfers are suspended on both the arrival and departure sides, as are contract extensions, so that owner Roman Abramovich does not make money from player sales.
No merchandising (sale of jerseys and derivative products) is also authorized.
However, the salaries of the players must continue to be paid, according to this special license under which the third in the Premier League will be placed.
Decisions of a significant magnitude which risk impacting the future of Chelsea in the medium and long term since the club should lose money with these new measures.
Roman Abramovich has owned the Chelsea club since August 2003, and won two Champions Leagues in 2012 and 2021.