Roman Abramovich: Chelsea owner’s charity is unlikely to prevent damage to his reputation

KENILWORTH ROAD — An away fixture at Kenilworth Road, a football ground in advanced decay, seemed an appropriate setting for a Chelsea team being hawked around the billionaires of Europe in what increasingly looks like a desperate fire sale. That Roman Abramovich was looking to offload the club was laid bare by Swiss magnate Hansjorg Wyss, even before the Russian released his statement confirming his intention to sell.

The billionaire said that it had been an “incredibly difficult decision” and described his ownership of the club as “the privilege of a lifetime”. But the language of affection and care, of custodianship, rang hollow against the background of an apparent frenzy to clear out before the threatened global sanctions could be imposed by the West, removing the option from him.

The Chelsea fans behind one goal sang his name before kick-off, their failure to grasp the true nature of his relationship with “their” club as wildly off the pace as Russian citizens who believe Vladimir Putin is doing good work in Ukraine. They were presumably moved by the apparent generosity of the terms of the sale, the proceeds of which will go to victims of the war in Ukraine.

Abramovich said he did not expect to recoup the estimated £1.5bn in loans to the club. For a man worth 10 times that, he can put any losses down to an accounting write-off, acceptable depreciation. In the context of his multibillion vault, coughing up whatever is left over from the Chelsea sale might be better understood as an early, pro-active attempt to reshape the post-war narrative.

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Hitherto, Abramovich has vehemently denied allegations of ongoing association with Putin. But as Putin gravitated ever more towards the dictator’s mindset, evidenced by the move into South Ossetia as long ago as 2008, the scrutiny on individuals with potential links to the Kremlin has only increased.

Last week, Chris Bryant MP used parliamentary privilege to claim that Abramovich was one of them, saying he had “links to the Russian state” as well as to “corrupt activity and practices”. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer repeated calls for the Government to impose sanctions.

What becomes of Chelsea in the days ahead is part of the collateral damage. Abramovich was Chelsea’s ticket to the big show when he bought the club from Ken Bates in 2004 for £140m. And why wouldn’t Chelsea fans love the upgrade?

Just as fans of Manchester City, PSG and latterly Newcastle put out the bunting for the sportswashers in their directors’ boxes, they were delighted to acquiesce, thrilled with the new reality.

The umbilical cord to his Russian business interests arguably made Abramovich vulnerable in a way the royal houses of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are not since they are the law. It may be the geopolitical plates will shift negatively for them too, perhaps when the fans connect the rising price of petrol to the refusal of the owners of their clubs to pump out more barrels of the black stuff.

The Wyss revelation tells us Abramovich began the sale process at least 24 hours before his official notification. Surely a man of noble intention would have done it the other way round, if nothing else to avoid the kind of cynical interpretation colouring this piece.

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Indeed, a cynic could conclude that Abramovich’s primary concern as the Russian forces continue to pummel Ukraine is for himself. The life he led in London, feted as the architect of Chelsea’s rise to Premier League and European champions, a distant memory.

The sanctions – if they come – won’t hurt as much as the perceived association with the man firing rockets at civilians. Abramovich seemingly remains unwilling to denounce Putin. But neither can he prosper by condoning Russia’s prosecution of his deranged scheme. And so he is forced into a series of desperate twists and turns so that he might somehow come out the other side in one piece, starting with the instruction to an American bank to find a buyer for Chelsea.

He is also trying to flog all or part of his portfolio of London properties reportedly with a view to relocating some of his wealth to the UAE, the Arab states that abstained in a UN vote to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Moving assets to states which act as facilitators and enablers of abhorrent regimes can only damage his reputation further.

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