{"id":1020357,"date":"2022-03-13T12:22:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/13\/roman-abramovich-disqualified-as-chelsea-director-club\/"},"modified":"2022-03-13T12:22:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T12:22:35","slug":"roman-abramovich-disqualified-as-chelsea-director-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/13\/roman-abramovich-disqualified-as-chelsea-director-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Abramovich disqualified as Chelsea director club"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Roman Abramovich<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Premier League has disqualified Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as a director of the club after the oligarch was sanctioned by the UK government.<\/p>\n

Abramovich had his British assets \u2013 including Chelsea \u2013 frozen on Thursday as part of the government\u2019s response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The move put the Russian\u2019s prospective sale of the club on hold.<\/p>\n

The Premier League said Abramovich\u2019s disqualification would \u201cnot impact on the club\u2019s ability to train and play\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Removing an owner from a board would usually trigger the sale of the shares, a process that Abramovich had instigated on 2 March after after the threat of sanctions was raised in Parliament.<\/p>\n

He had instructed American investment firm Raine Group to seek \u00a33bn for the club, but finance experts believe that price could drop given the current uncertainty around Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Raine Group temporarily halted the sale process on Thursday while answers were sought from the government about the implications of the sanctions.<\/p>\n

The government is open to considering an addition to the special licence it granted the club that would allow a sale to go ahead.<\/p>\n

A condition for that to happen, however, would be that Abramovich \u2013 one of Russia\u2019s richest people and believed to be close to the country\u2019s president, Vladimir Putin \u2013 receives none of the proceeds.<\/p>\n

The special licence granted by the government will allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket-holders to attend matches.<\/p>\n

Chelsea, however, cannot receive money for match tickets which have not already been sold, future gate receipts for FA Cup games or money from merchandise sold via the club shop.<\/p>\n

The European champions will also be unable to buy or sell players, or offer new contracts, while the sanctions are in place on Abramovich and he still owns the club.<\/p>\n

An amendment to the licence has been granted by the government, allowing Chelsea to spend up to \u00a3900,000 on costs for home games, up from the \u00a3500,000 set on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The allowable away costs of travel, however, remain at \u00a320,000 per game.<\/p>\n

A statement from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee confirming the changes to the licence also welcomed the league\u2019s move to disqualify Abramovich as a club director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has made clear that we need to hold to account those who have enabled the Putin regime,\u201d the DCMS statement said.<\/p>\n

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