By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu
More than two years after being forced to sell Chelsea Football Club due to UK sanctions, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has broken his silence, firmly shutting the door on any return to football ownership and insisting that the £2.5 billion proceeds from the sale must benefit victims of all conflicts, not just Ukrainians.
In comments published in the recently released book Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC by British journalist Nick Purewal, Abramovich made it clear that his football era is over. “I don’t have any interest in any role in a football club, certainly not a professional role. There might be something where I could help with academies and youngsters but as for ownership or a professional role at a club, I am done with that in this lifetime,” he said.
The billionaire, who bought Chelsea for £140 million in 2003 and transformed the club into a European powerhouse with 21 trophies in 19 years, handed the club over to the Todd Boehly Clearlake consortium in 2022. The sale followed heavy pressure from the UK government in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Abramovich’s alleged ties to President Vladimir Putin.
Despite promises that the £2.5 billion from the sale would be donated to humanitarian efforts supporting victims of the war in Ukraine, the money remains frozen in a UK bank. The British government blames Abramovich for the delay, citing disagreements over how the funds should be distributed.
UK shadow ministers Rachel Reeves and David Lammy expressed deep frustration in a joint statement, saying, “The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine. We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.”
They warned that if no agreement is reached soon, legal action may follow. “While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required.”
However, Abramovich maintains that the money should not be restricted to one side of the conflict. “Whatever I do, people will always accuse me of some kind of agenda. In the end, I have done what I have done simply to try to help,” he said, insisting that the funds must support all victims whether Ukrainian or Russian.
He also expressed a sentimental desire to one day return to Stamford Bridge as a visitor. “Perhaps one day there would be a situation where I could attend a match and say a proper goodbye, but nothing more than that.”
For Nigerian football fans, Abramovich’s Chelsea era marked the golden age of Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and others a period of pride and success. While the chapter is closed for Abramovich, the legacy remains deeply felt both in London and across the football loving streets of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.