| When he bought Chelsea back in 2003, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich might as well have arrived riding in a golden chariot. Within a heartbeat, Chelsea’s squad was stocked with some of the best and most expensive talents in the world. Player salaries went through the roof. Money, quite simply, was no object. English soccer had never seen anything like it, the financial race was now on – and the game would never be the same again. It hasn’t seen anything like what is about to happen now either, 19 years later, as Abramovich tries to make his hurried exit from the English Premier League and the British government attempts to make sure he doesn’t profit while doing so. Abramovich is one of seven Russian oligarchs with operations in the United Kingdom who had their assets frozen on Thursday, as part of the international backlash to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s military invasion of neighboring Ukraine. For Chelsea, as one of those assets, the repercussions are immediate and unprecedented. Two-thirds of the way through a campaign that sees the team sitting third in the EPL and on the verge of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea is – for now – prohibited from selling tickets to its games, though existing members can enter if they have a prepaid season ticket. Any agreements for new or renewed player contracts are barred, Chelsea can not sell its club merchandise and there are caps on all spending that extends to how much can be used to transport the squad to matches. Abramovich was targeted because of the widely held assumption that he became so wealthy due to having negotiated secret deals to exploit Russia’s natural resources. In Abramovich’s case, according to a statement backed by British prime minister Boris Johnson, the Chelsea owner and Putin are on “close” terms, and have been since his former position as governor of Russia’s Chukotka region in the early 2000s. “Abramovich is associated with a person who is or has been involved in (destabilizing) Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin, with whom Abramovich has had a close relationship for decades,” the statement read. When it became swiftly clear that Putin’s Ukraine actions would have repercussions for Russian-linked businesses and individuals, Abramovich moved to cede stewardship of the club to Chelsea’s charitable trust, in the closing days of February. Soon after, Chelsea was put up for sale, sparking a flurry of reported bids that suggested a potential price of close to $4 billion, due to the EPL’s vast television revenue and global support base. As things stand, a sale will not be permitted. If special dispensation was given for the team to be sold – something that might be necessary if it is to operate as normal – it would be on the condition that Abramovich could not profit from the proceeds. Maybe it is in the nature of the sports fan to bother themselves simply with the product in front of them, rather than asking too many questions about what made it all possible. The reality is, however, that more has been spoken about the origins of Abramovich’s wealth in the past week than in the previous 19 years combined. So bold were his sporting moves, so hard-charging was his desire to turn Chelsea into a domestic and European giant, that everyone got swept along for the ride. Abramovich bought Chelsea from former owner Ken Bates for less than $90 million in 2003, at a time when the club was struggling to make ends meet. Within days of his arrival, new player after new player began to be scooped up at what quickly became inflated rates, because the word was out. Chelsea had money to burn. And burn Abramovich did. When he discovered fan favorite Gianfranco Zola had been sold to Italian team Cagliari just before his purchase from Bates, Abramovich enquired about buying Cagliari so he could force them to sell Zola back. That didn’t work out, but it was about the only thing that didn’t work in the early days. Since Abramovich acquired the club, Chelsea has spent an estimated $2 billion on new players, with a net spend (accounting for revenues from players sold) above $600 million. His never-say-no approach ushered in the EPL’s gilded age. More overseas investors quickly followed, prompting even more spending, ever higher salaries, and the near unanimous acceptance that the EPL was the best soccer league on earth. Chelsea fans could scarcely believe their luck. Having not won the English title since the 1950s, they have celebrated five EPL crowns and two Champions League victories in the Abramovich era. The most recent success was last season’s Champions League title, helped by United States captain Christian Pulisic. Along the way there were occasional rumblings about Abramovich’s history, but it was few and far between. “You can’t look at this in a purely footballing context,” The Times journalist Matthew Syed said in 2013, as part of a Sky Sports special on the 10th anniversary of Abramovich’s arrival. “You have to look at the wider moral context and in that sense it has been a deeply corrosive influence on British football.” And now, it has all caught up with Abramovich. From one of the most powerful men in soccer … to having all his power stripped away. For Chelsea, meanwhile, a future that looked nothing but bright, is now mired in uncertainty. |
