Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club on Wednesday attested that he will\u00a0sell the Premier League club amid Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Abramovich has also decided that it is in the\u00a0\u201cbest interest\u201d of the Champions League holders if he parts ways with the club he has transformed since his purchase in 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the club\u2019s best interest at heart,\u201d Abramovich said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club\u2019s sponsors and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chelsea have won 19 major trophies in the Abramovich era, including their first two Champions League crowns and five Premier League titles.<\/p>\n
But the 55-year-old\u2019s reign will come to an end following the fall-out from the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n
The British government have yet to order sanctions against Abramovich, who is said to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the Chelsea owner\u2019s concern about potential seizing of assets is said to have sparked his move to off-load the Blues.<\/p>\n
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and USA investor Todd Boehly are reported to be two of the parties now preparing a joint bid for Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Abramovich, who made a rare appearance to watch Chelsea win the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi recently, has also pledged to donate any net proceeds from the sale to help victims of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sale of the club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process,\u201d Abramovich said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club on Wednesday attested that he will\u00a0sell the Premier League club amid Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich has also decided that it is in the\u00a0\u201cbest interest\u201d of the Champions League holders if he parts ways with the club he has transformed since his purchase in 2003. \u201cAs I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":154436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[121,13173,30816,5843],"class_list":["post-156272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-chelsea","tag-roman-abramovich","tag-russia-ukraine-crisis","tag-ukraine"],"yoast_head":"\n