Whatever Roman ultimately decides to do, you cant hide his legacy, 20 yrs of near continuous winners, you bought me and others unbridled joy, and i hope it continues......Thanks for ride Roman....

5 minutes ago, Sindre said:

This is an interesting perspective.

Does that mean Marina is out as of today as well?

Build-up for tomorrows cup-final couldn't be worse btw will all this uncertainty.

Who cares about the league cup after this news?

Very smart move by Roman. Means the club cannot be sanctioned 

27 minutes ago, loz said:

I think people are panicking needlessly. Strikes me as just putting in place an arms length ownership which protects the club as the assets are held by a charity

 

That's what I thought too, surprised there are a lot of "end of an era" floating around across social media.

If that lot make a public show of support for Ukraine tomorrow, we will have to match it somehow.

while Ukrainians are dying we're all waving flags and writing messages on tee shirts.

4 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Who cares about the league cup after this news?

Why shouldn't you care about the league cup? We're in the final!

8 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Basically it means he will still own the club without being the actual owner as per official papers. It will protect the club from being taken off of him.

Not sure you are right.

I suspect , although it’s just me reading between the lines that he has gifted his shares in the club to the Foundation but what is now coming into play is the loan levied against the club.

It’s pretty certain that the foundation won’t be in a position to fund matters so I suspect that before long a new owner will ship up and the sale proceeds will go either in full or in part to settle the loan.

 

Inevitable really.

All these oligarchs are massively on the hook with Putin. I get the impression that none of them will ever be allowed to just walk away.

I'll be very surprised if Granovskaia is still here next week as well ...

I don't think Roman can ever openly and publicly criticise Putin, he wouldn't be alive for very long. He's best to hide away for a bit now and take the spot light off his ownership of the club which he has done. He's brought us many happy moments and trophies so we can't be too harsh especially when we don't know the full truth.

9 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

Inevitable really.

All these oligarchs are massively on the hook with Putin. I get the impression that none of them will ever be allowed to just walk away.

I'll be very surprised if Granovskaia is still here next week as well ...

I would think Granovskaia would be here until we get a new owner.

Not surprised to see this news. And astute move to protect the club like others have already said. No need to panic. 

36 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

If that lot make a public show of support for Ukraine tomorrow, we will have to match it somehow.

while Ukrainians are dying we're all waving flags and writing messages on tee shirts.

as blue and yellow are core to our club colours, there's really no reason why this should pose our supporters a problem

Anyone going to the game should take a Ukrainian flag. Do a makeshift one at home, some Ukraine colours. Would be really effective imo.

Bigger picture - it’s really only a few nutters now that DON’T want Putin gone. He will be deposed. it’s just a matter of time, but of course the longer it takes the more that can go wrong. 
 

Back to the Chelsea ownership question. Reading between the lines and drawing on the past, it’s pretty clear where Roman stands vis-a-vis Putin. Wants him out without a shadow of a doubt. Q is - At what point does not vocally opposing become a bigger risk to him than opposing?

1 hour ago, loz said:

I think people are panicking needlessly. Strikes me as just putting in place an arms length ownership which protects the club as the assets are held by a charity

 

not sure it does. there's not a legal concept of stewardship afaik. RA still owns the club, it's still his asset - putting its management into the hands of the charitable foundation might create a bit of distance and might make UK govt less keen to grab it but I'm not convinced it's an absolute safeguard against that happening 

5 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

not sure it does. there's not a legal concept of stewardship afaik. RA still owns the club, it's still his asset - putting its management into the hands of the charitable foundation might create a bit of distance and might make UK govt less keen to grab it but I'm not convinced it's an absolute safeguard against that happening 

And that’s why I think he has transferred the share ownership. 

I love Roman for all he has done for Chelsea. 

But many things are much more important than football.

It's clear he's on Putin's hook, for whatever reason. And because of that, until he somehow can denounces/detach himself from Putin, his position at Chelsea is a very very difficult, given whats happened. Which is very depressing. 

Some speculation over what happens next

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/buyers-said-to-circle-abramovich-s-prized-chelsea-football-club

2 minutes ago, terraloon said:

And that’s why I think he has transferred the share ownership. 

has he though - is that clear?

20 minutes ago, Dean said:

Anyone going to the game should take a Ukrainian flag. Do a makeshift one at home, some Ukraine colours. Would be really effective imo.

Bigger picture - it’s really only a few nutters now that DON’T want Putin gone. He will be deposed. it’s just a matter of time, but of course the longer it takes the more that can go wrong. 
 

Back to the Chelsea ownership question. Reading between the lines and drawing on the past, it’s pretty clear where Roman stands vis-a-vis Putin. Wants him out without a shadow of a doubt. Q is - At what point does not vocally opposing become a bigger risk to him than opposing?

If he goes against Putin I suspect he will find a way to bring some sort of charges against him 

Edited February 26, 20224 yr by azpi28

4 minutes ago, Zola said:

I love Roman for all he has done for Chelsea. 

But many things are much more important than football.

It's clear he's on Putin's hook, for whatever reason. And because of that, until he somehow can denounces/detach himself from Putin, his position at Chelsea is a very very difficult, given whats happened. Which is very depressing. 

He has sold Gazprom to him (to the Russian state)

and he acquired that company in a dubious way 

12 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

He has sold Gazprom to him (to the Russian state)

and he acquired that company in a dubious way 

How do you know for that fact that it was "dubious" ?

2 hours ago, Munkworth said:

This is what I’m hoping. He might get a bit trigger happy with the managers but it’s normally for the best in the end. Great owner who’s only done what he see’s is best for the club. 

100% agree . Theres a lot of clubs out there wishing  they had a owner like Roman .  🏆 

7 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

He has sold Gazprom to him (to the Russian state)

and he acquired that company in a dubious way 

Just to clarify a couple of bits here azpi. Sorry if a bit pedantic. Abramovich through a combination of moves  (accumulating ownership vouchers issued to workers in early 1990s and then the big one - loans-for shares scheme mid-90s) got control of a bunch of Siberian oil assets that became sibneft, of which he owned 90%, the rest freefloat. In the mid-00s he was tapped on the shoulder and forced to sell Sibneft to Gazprom at a price which was actually ok for him but of course better for Gazprom. That company then changed its name to Gazpromneft. Back to the question of dubious means, it’s certainly true but doesn’t have a bearing on the current situation 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/30964/12552691/roman-abramovich-hands-chelsea-stewardship-to-clubs-charity-trust-following-russia-invasion-of-ukraine

Micah Richard's first I'm the media to criticize the statement. Saying it says nothing.