Roman Abramovich hands Chelsea ‘stewardship’ to club’s charity trust

Roman Abramovich has handed “stewardship and care” of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Abramovich will remain Chelsea owner and the Russian billionaire, who has invested over £1billion into the Stamford Bridge club since purchasing it in 2003, will not be asking the club to repay the loans it owes him – meaning the long-term future of the club remains secure.

It is also understood that Abramovich remains adamant that Chelsea is not for sale.

Bur there are now questions about his long-term future at the club.

Whether Abramovich will ever return to taking a more visible hands-on role at the club will likely depend strongly on whether he faces any sanctions, and what happens in Ukraine and the UK’s relationship with Russia.

“A lot of Chelsea fans will want to know if he’s still going to be putting money in,” chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol told Sky Sports News. “I believe he will continue to back the club, but that of course could change if the UK Government announce he is being sanctioned – but they haven’t done that so far.”

There have been calls from British MPs this week that Russian-born Abramovich should not be allowed to own Chelsea due to his alleged links to Vladimir Putin’s regime.

After Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine on Tuesday, Labour MP Chris Bryant told the House of Commons that the Russian-Israeli billionaire should have his assets seized, questioned whether he should be allowed to operate a football club himself, and quoted a leaked government document suggesting he should not be allowed to be based in the UK.