by Roman Abramovich could cause serious problems for Chelsea, with news that he wants to overturn the decision to cancel the club’s loan to him.
Abramovich decided already in February to sell the Blues, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the need to sell accelerated by the sanctions against the Russians by the British government.
It was initially reported that the billionaire was ready to give up the £ 1.6 billion the club owed him in loans to help carry out the sale.
However, on Tuesday, things hit a stumbling block, with the Times reporting that Abramovich is “trying to give up” by forgoing the money owed.
The report says Chelsea have told the UK government and the preferred bidder they want to restructure the deal, with £ 1.6bn gone to the Blues’ parent company, which appears to be linked to the current owner.
Sanctions against the 55-year-old meant that his assets were frozen and the money from the sale was to be used for good causes, including those in war-affected Ukraine.
Daily Mail sports writer Rob Draper explained Twitter what the repercussions of Abramovich’s decision on the Premier League team could have, and could be very serious.
The Premier League will meet on June 8 to form the new 22-23 league. If Chelsea are not licensed to operate by then – and now only have the UK government’s suffering license – then they cannot be part of PL. Simple … ..
– Rob Draper (@draper_rob) May 3, 2022
Imagine if it came to May 30 and there was a real chance Chelsea could fold, but somehow Ratcliffe’s offer could save the day if only the UK government agreed to leave the proceeds to an independent charity. ? Well, that would be better than letting Chelsea fold …
– Rob Draper (@draper_rob) May 3, 2022
Draper explained that although there is a May 31 sale deadline, the club would be in trouble if it wasn’t sold by June 8, when Premier League clubs meet.
At that point, their temporary license, which allowed them to continue trading for the remainder of this season, but also prevented fans from purchasing tickets and merchandise, would expire.
Without a license to operate as a business, the club would not be able to continue in the league, which of course everyone would like to avoid.
Clearly not, with an American-led consortium set to be named the preferred bidder and Ratcliffe still a potential buyer, but things could go just as badly in this current scenario.
