In a brief statement on Saturday, football club Chelsea wrote that Roman Abramovich was relinquishing control.

– During my nearly 20 years of ownership at Chelsea FC, I have always looked at my role as club manager, where my job is to ensure that we achieve as much success as possible today, while building the future while we play a positive role in our local community. I always make all decisions with the club’s best considerations. I am still committed to these values. That’s why today I give the trustee of the Chelsea charitable foundation the management and care of Chelsea FC, wrote Roman Abramovich on Press conference.

Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea has been the subject of heated debate in a number of media recently. Several organizations and politicians, in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, advocated freezing the assets of the oligarchs in Britain.

It remains unclear exactly what Abramovich’s departure will mean.

Must have sanction insurance

Forbes wrote earlier this week that Abramovich would have insurance that would cover him if England tried to push him out of Chelsea.

Abramovich bought Chelsea for $190 million in 2003. Last year, Forbes valued the club at $3.2 billion. The club’s debt to the Russian oligarchs is estimated at two billion dollars, according to the magazine.

Debt could quickly become a big problem for Chelsea. In the worst case, Abramovich could demand repayment of the loan from the English club immediately.

– If he wants revenge, he can claim a loan from Chelsea. This means Chelsea will go bankrupt, and Putin can happily say ‘well you asked for it’, associate professor Kieran Maguire at the University of Liverpool told Forbes earlier this week.

Too Time wrote that Chelsea were now in danger of going bankrupt due to Abramovich’s resignation.

Associate Professor Maguire at the University of Liverpool believes Abramovich could effectively argue that his assets are frozen, and demands that the debt be paid immediately.

“Then the club will stop,” Maguire told Forbes.

Politicians against Abramovich

Labor politician Chris Bryant was among those calling for the UK Parliament to freeze or expropriate Abramovich’s UK assets – including Chelsea and investment firm Millhouse LLC.

– Couldn’t Abramovich still own a football club in this country? “We have to look at the possibility of expropriating some of his assets, as well as making sure that other people on self-employment visas like this don’t engage in malicious activity in the UK,” Bryant told the House of Commons earlier this week. Property.

In Britain, there has been speculation for several years about the relationship between Abramovich and Vladimir Putin. Last year, Abramovich sued writer Catherine Belton for writing that Abramovich had received orders from Putin to buy Chelsea, among other things.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that Abramovich would face sanctions, but Johnson later withdrew that statement. Abramovich was not hit by the sweeping sanctions Britain imposed on Russian banks and billionaires this weekend.