Chelsea fans are attending their first match at Stamford Bridge since the government launched sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich.
Thomas Tuchel’s side host Newcastle in a 2pm kick off and thousands of seats will be left empty for the Premier League clash.
As part of the sanctions, the club were unable to sell any further tickets for the match or sell merchandise.
The club are unable also to sell matchday programmes, with the only ones available to those in the press area, hospitality and those who have already paid a subscription to receive them
Fans who had held tickets for this or any other game going forward, will still be able to attend matches as planned.
Abramovich had been sanctioned on the back of his homeland Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian oligarch’s have been targeted since the start of the war and Abramovich was a known ally of president Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich had already lined up to sell the club following the invasion, and he still will be able to do so as long as he doesn’t financially benefit from the sale.
Chelsea fans are arriving at Stamford Bridge for their first game since Roman Abramovich was sanctioned
Chelsea fans pose with a banner in reference to golden shares near Stamford Bridge
Abramovich will still be able to sell the club as long as he doesn’t financially benefit from the sale
The limitations on Chelsea during the remainder of his ownership though has raised plenty of concern for those at the club or supporting it.
Following the sanctioning, sponsors Three and Hyundai have suspended their ties with the club.
Chelsea also fear they might not be able to pay their bills despite the refining of the sanctions which are intended to help them complete the season.
There are concerns they could end up in administration and incur a nine-point penalty if further changes are not made.
Payday for players and staff is on April 1, with Chelsea’s monthly wage bill approximately £28million. While there are reserves to pay players next month, at present the only cash-flow Chelsea have are their broadcasting revenues from the Premier League and prize money from UEFA and the FA for progressing through their respective cup tournaments, the latter being allowed by Saturday’s clarifications.
Chelsea’s official club shop has been gated off with the club unable to sell merchandise including matchday programmes
The inability to sell tickets is also a key factor, with that income said to be crucial for generating cash flow, with sources close to the club indicating that they will go into the red very quickly and that the club would be in grave danger unless the Government relent.
It is understood that the Government will look again at the request early next week and insist they have no desire to run the club into administration. Both parties are focused on a speedy sale, with merchant bank the Raine Group taking bids for prospective buyers.
The Government will issue another amendment to the licence conditions to allow a sale and are happy to work with Raine Group and accept their preferred bidder.
Abramovich will not stand in the way of a sale, with sources close to the owner insisting that he had already accepted that he would not benefit from the sale by pledging proceeds to war victims.
Under the terms of the sanctions, the Government will ultimately decide where the funds end up.
The front runners are all North American sports franchise owners: Todd Boehly, part owner of the LA Dodgers, who has teamed up with Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and, according to Sky, London property developer Jonathan Goldstein; the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs; and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
The Daily Mail also revealed that London property developer Nick Candy is still keen to put together a consortium.
Government sanctions on Abramovich had previously allowed the club only to pay staff and imposed a limit of £500,000 on putting on a game at Stamford Bridge, an amount which is about half the necessary expenditure for a home game. That limit has now been raised to £900,000.
Contractors and temporary workers were also added to the list of staff who can be paid, which will make it easier for Chelsea to organise home games and pay expenses to academy players, parents and rent to host families with whom young players lodge.
Previously that had been unclear, leaving the club in a state of paralysis over who could legally be paid, and not knowing whether they could order taxis for casual staff or have matchday hosts in the press room.
Chelsea fans stand next to a board showing that there are no tickets available for their clash next month with Brentford
Crucially though there is no rise in the amount the club are allowed to spend on travelling to games, which remains at £20,000. That will not be an issue for Lille on Wednesday, which is prepaid, but £20,000 would not cover the cost of a plane to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup next Saturday.
While the Government appear to be flexible on travel costs for future Champions League games if Chelsea progress, there is no indication that the limit will be raised for domestic games, meaning Chelsea players will have to get used to train and coach travel for away games.
Chelsea’s corporate credit card account was suspended by Barclaycard last week, who wanted to assess whether they were in breach of sanctions by providing a service, but Chelsea are confident that will soon be restored.
Chelsea’s sponsors are distancing themselves from the club but it is expected that the players will continue to wear the Three logo today, even though the telecommunications company have requested they do not, because patching over the logo has proved impractical and chemical sprays to remove it leave the shirt a mess.
A ‘Roman Empire’ banner is still up for display at Stamford Bridge despite the sanctioning
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