Chelsea fans have responded to the Government’s sanctioning of club owner Roman Abramovich by singing his name as their match against Norwich City kicked off on Thursday evening.
Supporters also chanted “Chelsea get sanctioned everywhere we go” at Carrow Road after the billionaire was hit with sanctions – including an asset freeze and travel ban – over his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the UK’s response to the Ukraine invasion.
The penalties mean Chelsea FC cannot sell any more tickets for games, buy or sell players, and its merchandise shop has been closed.
Chelsea fans were widely castigated over the weekend after a minute’s tribute ahead of a match with Burnley on Saturday was interrupted by a section singing his name.
On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who also supports the club, labelled the actions of “a minority of fans” as “totally wrong”.
London mayor Sadiq Khan urged the Government to consider “completely innocent” Chelsea fans in its sanctioning of the club’s owner.
“I think it’s right that the Government is now taking sanctions and seizing assets of those Russian oligarchs close to Putin,” he said. But he added it was “important we don’t allow a situation where any asset which may be owned by a Russian oligarch close to Putin is sold off in a fire sale”.
It comes as fans described being left “shocked” and “concerned” about the club’s long-term future following the Government’s sanctioning of owner Roman Abramovich.
Dan Silver, a board member of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, told i: “We knew sanctions were coming but the actual outcome is quite a shock. They’ve sanctioned Mr Abramovich but as a consequence of that, Chelsea fans have also been sanctioned.
“There’s some leeway but our belt’s been tightened massively by the Government in terms of what we can and can’t do. It’s enough for us to survive but it’s not conducive long term.”
A special licence has been issued to allow games to be played, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches, while a separate licence may allow the club to be sold provided Abramovich does not benefit from the proceeds.
With some supporters predicting online that the sanctions against Abramovich could lead to “the end of Chelsea”, Mr Silver admitted it could “mean the end of this trophy-winning machine”.
But, he added: “Winning doesn’t define my support as a Chelsea fan. I’ve been going for 40 years – I saw us win absolutely nothing for the first half of that and in the last 25 years I think we’ve lifted 28 trophies. No club has a divine right to win trophies, the most important thing is that there’s still a Chelsea club to go and support.
“A lot of what we’re discussing is quite churlish compared to what’s going on in Ukraine. In reality, we’re living in peace, we’re living in a free country, we’re not losing loved ones through an unnecessary war.”
Outside Stamford Bridge on Thursday, Chelsea supporters felt a similar sense of internal conflict.
“I’m quite gutted, really. We could see it coming but as a fan base and a club in general we’ll have to move on,” said Kai Chapman, 19, from Nottingham.
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“I get the whole point of sanctioning Abramovich but, in terms of supporters, I think it’s a bit harsh to punish us because all we want to do is support our club and do to games, and without being able to purchase tickets it’s going to put us in a hard and awkward position.”
Meanwhile, Clive Winter, 61, from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, who has been a Chelsea fan for 55 years, questioned the legitimacy of the sanctions.
“[Abramovich has] done so much for the club and for charities in this country and all over the world,” he said.
“He’s a Chelsea fan and 20 years have gone past and nothing’s been actioned. Surely if there were links or alleged links, something should have happened in the last 20 years rather than leaving it until now.”
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