The situation in Ukraine has affected Roman Abramovich's plan of selling the London-based football club Chelsea as well. The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson has hit the Russian billionaire with an assets freeze that also includes his football club. As a part of their latest move to support Ukraine, the British finance ministry has frozen his assets and sanctioned a travel ban in Abramovich's name.
Apart from him, other leading Russian industrialists who are perceived to be close to Kremlin have also been slapped with sanctions. These include Oleg Deripaska, Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller. Abramovich who had announced last week that he was selling Chelsea, bought the leading Premier League club in 2003. The PM called the sanction the latest step in the UK's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.
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However, a special license has been issued for the club that authorises football-related activities. This includes permission for the club to continue playing football matches and other football-related activity which will, in turn, protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans, and other clubs, the statement said.