British authorities withhold Chelsea proceeds from Roman Abramovich

The Russian national ultimately sold the football club for over $3 billion

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea Football Club in May last year after the British government introduced sanctions against him and shut the club down by preventing ticket sales and any operations of the stadium. Abramovich ultimately sold the club to a consortium led by Todd Boehly for $3.2 billion.

However, following the sale, the funds were never released to Abramovich’s bank account and have been held by the British authorities since. Liz Truss, the UK’s short-lived prime minister, announced that the government would seize frozen Russian assets in the UK and redistribute them to victims of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. She also stated that the UK would never remove sanctions from Abramovich.

This week, the British authorities announced that they are now going to donate the funds from the Chelsea sale to British charities of their choice. According to reports in the British media, Abramovich has been prevented from being involved in any discussions surrounding the donation of funds, while the authorities have stated that he will be barred from any involvement in the disbursement of funds. This will be the first attempt by the UK authorities to ultimately confiscate and redistribute sanctioned assets.

Details are yet to be released regarding the foundation that is due to receive the $3.2 billion.