UK sanctions Abramovich, spares Saudi, UAE despite Yemen war
Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London
If you believe in the myth of sports neutrality, promoted by the likes of FIFA, wait till you see this, within hours, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was stripped of his ownership of the west London football club Chelsea ranked by Forbes as the seventh most valuable in world football at 3.2 billion dollars. We asked Chelsea fans what they made of the decision.
Abramovich has owned the Blues since 2003 has won 19 major trophies since and is probably the most famous oligarch in the UK. Why was his so-called links to the Kremlin not a problem before?
If the UK can freeze the assets of a Russian billionaire over Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, why doesn’t it apply the same principle to clubs beyond Chelsea, such as Newcastle owned by a Saudi Arabian wealth fund or Manchester City owned by a member of the UAE royal family over waging genocide against Yemenis?
At the moment, the sale of the Blues is on hold, but the government here says it’s open to a sale of the club and in the mix to buy it a Saudi private consortium.
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