Boehly takes the Blues
On 24th February, Russian invaded Ukraine sending shock waves across the globe. In the footballing world, Ukraine players wore the captain's armband, stadiums observed a minute of silence, teams wore blue and yellow and Ukraine flags were hung in stadiums.
Two weeks later, Chelsea FC owner, Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government due to his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This meant that Chelsea could no longer sell tickets to games (only season ticket holders could attend games), the club could no longer permit the sale or transfer of players, the club shop had to close, and any competition prize money was frozen. Although the teams were allowed to continue playing fixtures, they were restricted to a maximum of £20,000 travel costs. These restrictions have had massive knock-on effects for the Blues who have been unable to retain key players such as Antonio Rudiger this summer, partly due to their inability to negotiate a new contract for him and, the Blues have had to play away games without their usual vocal, travelling support, not to mention the noise that all of this has created weighing on the players.
In 2003, Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC for £140 million. The club is now worth an estimate of £4 billion. Within the Abramovich era, the club have won every major trophy including five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two Champions League titles, two Europa League titles, three EFL Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and most recently the FIFA Club World Cup – and that’s just the men’s team. Chelsea women’s team have also won five Women's Super League titles and four FA Cups. After lots of interest shown in buying the club, a deal was agreed with Todd Boehly, an American businessman to buy the club for £4.25 billion. The deal was approved late last week by the UK government and the Premier League and is being finalised today. Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital Consortium will be the proud new owners of the Blues, with the latter being the majority shareholder. Abramovich has not received any of the proceeds of the sale which have instead been placed into a frozen bank account to be donated to humanitarian causes in Ukraine. He has also written off the £1.6 billion in debt that is owed to him by the club.
Boehly and his investors have made clear that they intend to maintain the fighting spirit that the Blues are so famously known for and intend to close the gapy between Chelsea and Liverpool/Man City who sit at the top of the Premier League table. The sale comes ahead of the opening of the summer transfer window meaning that the club can begin to negotiate transfers and rebuild their depleted team. The Blues are also hoping that American ownership might attract a larger US fanbase. This comes ahead of the Chelsea men's team's USA tour this July.
Although the Abramovich era has come to a sad end for Roman, he issued a statement to fans over the weekend as a final farewell…
It has been nearly three months since I announced my intention to sell Chelsea FC. During this time, the team have worked hard to find the right custodian for Chelsea FC that would be best positioned to successfully lead the Club into its next chapter.
I am pleased this search has now come to a successful conclusion. As I hand over Chelsea to its new custodians, I would like to wish them the best of success, both on and off the pitch.
It has been an honour of a lifetime to be a part of this Club – I would like to thank all the Club’s past and current players, staff, and of course fans for these incredible years.
I am proud that as a result of our joint successes, millions of people will now benefit from the new charitable foundation which is being established. This is the legacy which we have created together.
Thank you.
Roman
