WAR IN UKRAINE
SANCTIONS HIT CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB
On 10 March 2022, the UK Government imposed further sanctions on individual Russian oligarchs connected to the Putin regime. They are:
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH
OLEG DERIPASKA
IGOR SECHIN
ANDREY KOSTIN
ALEXEI MILLER
NIKOLAI TOKAREV
DMITRI LEBEDEV
These individuals are now designated and subject to an asset freeze.
Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea Football Club. The Club is now subject to an asset freeze. The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has issued a General Licence (INT/2022/1327076) in relation to the Club which permits the Club, until 31 May 2022 to pay:
- Remuneration, allowances and pensions of all Club employees, including the wages of players and coaching staff;
- Fees, dividends or other allowances to directors of the Club , payable under obligations which pre-date 10 March 2022 and are due before 31 May 2022, but not any fees, dividends or other allowances to Mr. Abramovich;
- Reasonable fees or other costs directly related to ongoing regular maintenance of the Club, including: rates, council tax, insurance, ongoing maintenance and inspection to ensure safety and security of its site but excluding new capital works or refurbishment;
- Reasonable costs of travel to and from fixtures (or training or practice) for players and essential staff, not exceeding £20,000 per game per team;
- Reasonable costs for the purposes of the Club hosting fixtures at its home grounds, including security, catering and stewarding, not exceeding £500,000 per fixture per team;
- Inter-club payments to discharge obligations which existed before 10 March 2022 under player loan or sale arrangements.
Those who purchased tickets for a fixture or a Club season ticket prior to 10 March 2022 may:
- Attend fixtures and purchase refreshments while attending these fixtures; and
- Make payments under contractual or other obligations entered into before 10 March 2022 in respect of season tickets.
In addition to the above, the General Licence permits:
- People/entities to make payment to the Club to discharge existing obligations under player loan or sale arrangements;
- Relevant institutions/bodies such as the Football Association, the Premier League and UEFA, to pay revenue to the Club for broadcasting licensing relating to any fixtures and any performance fee;
- The Club to receive funds, which must be frozen, from the discharge of existing obligations outlined above and broadcasting.
- Broadcasters to broadcast any fixtures involving the Club;
- The sale of existing stocks of Club merchandise purchased or produced before 10 March 2022, on condition that no funds or other financial benefits are made available to the Club or Mr. Abramovich.