The UK Government say the takeover of Chelsea Football Club by Todd Boehly from Roman Abramovich is in the best interests of the club, the fans and football as a whole, with sanctions imposed back in March finally set to be lifted.
After many months of uncertainty which all kicked off with Abramovich himself trying to pass on the daily running of the club to trustees which then changed to him announcing his intentions to sell the club back at the start of March, the UK Government have been heavily involved since. The Russian billionaire was sanctioned following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which then meant that the club had to operate under a special license up until now, with Boehly and his consortium now official owners of the Blues, as the statement confirmed.
The first statement which was released before the board of directors' own comments on the situation at hand read: "Roman Abramovich has completed the sale of Chelsea Football Club and related companies to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. Throughout this process, we have worked very closely with the UK Government, in particular the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and HM Treasury, as well as with the Premier League, The FA and UEFA. In order to complete the transaction, we needed consents and approvals from all, and in particular from the UK Government.
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"We have been able to obtain all necessary consents, as well as further licences required in Portugal, Canada and Jersey due to the structure of the previous ownership." Despite Abramovich officially being a thing of the past for Chelsea with his 19-year association now over, the UK Government says it was in the best interests of everyone involved to move on from the billionaire who had become the centre of attention in this country since the invasion of Ukraine started three months ago.
This was reflected in what a UK Government spokesperson said on the Chelsea sale: "Today's change of ownership marks a new chapter for Chelsea Football Club in the best interests of its fans, the club and the wider football community.
"The club is now no longer subject to the sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich, an individual who has enabled Putin's brutal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine. Since sanctions were imposed on Abramovich on 10 March, we have worked tirelessly to ensure the club can continue to play football, while maintaining the integrity of our sanctions regime.
"Chelsea's long-term future is now secured and binding commitments have been received which ensure sanctioned individuals cannot financial benefit from the sale. The Government retains control to ensure that this is the case. We have begun the process of ensuring the proceeds are used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine that results from Russian aggression. Further details will be set out in due course."
