Reporter Han Bing reported that the Blues were exempted from £1.5 billion in debt and donated the proceeds of the sale of the club to a public welfare foundation, and a week ago, Abramovich's choice shocked the world football, and the Chelsea boss hoped to reduce the impact of the storm on the Blues and ensure that the club that he had devoted 19 years of hard work to could "land safely". However, Abu was ultimately unable to do so.
On Thursday, a paper ban was issued, and Abramovich's assets in britain were completely frozen. This means that chelsea, which is 100 per cent owned, will also be halted from selling after all negotiations will be forced to end. Although the Blues were granted temporary permission to "continue operating", they were unable to sell tickets (except for season ticket holders only) and official merchandise (except for home catering), could not be recruited and renewed, and spending on away games was limited to £20,000. While you will still receive TV fees and performance bonuses, they will be earmarked to pay employee salaries.
The domino effect of the departure of the sponsors has begun, and the chest advertisement "3" Telecom has temporarily suspended its contract with Chelsea, and the British media believe that Nike, Hyundai and Hublot will follow, because they cannot judge Chelsea's future. It was a tragic milestone for Chelsea fans, clubs and Premier League football.
Although as early as last week, after Abu announced the sale of Chelsea, the British media had predicted that he would most likely be unable to achieve his wishes due to the freezing of assets, but when this day really came, Chelsea clubs and fans still had difficulty accepting such a heavy "catastrophe". "The Blue Bridge is collapsing" was the headline of the major British media education pages: Chelsea Club's income was frozen and it was impossible to get any investment from Abu. Tickets, merchandise, sponsorship fees, player transfers and income from club sales are all unable to enter the club owner's account because Abu's assets were frozen.
While 28,000 Chelsea season ticket holders can still get tickets, retail tickets and tickets for away fans are banned due to "new deals", resulting in Chelsea losing at least £600,000 per home in the future. Including the Champions League knockout matches that Chelsea are still playing, they will not be able to sell tickets and will have to play empty games.
Chelsea's online and offline stores have all stopped selling products, and tv broadcast fees, performance bonuses and sponsor revenue, although also "old transactions" can continue to be paid, but can only be used to pay players and staff salaries. The widespread pessimism among sponsors about Chelsea's future led them to opt for the suspension of their contracts. The chest advertisement "3" Telecom (40 million pounds per year) has suspended the contract, followed by Nike (55 million pounds per year), Hyundai, Hublot watches (15 million pounds per year). That was a financial blow for the Blues, meaning they would lose more than £120 million in revenue each season.
The most unacceptable thing is that because Abu was sanctioned, Chelsea's players could not make signing trades or renew their contracts. Chelsea, including captains Azpilicueta, Rudiger and Christensen, will expire their contracts this summer, while the Blues are unable to negotiate a renewal and players' agents have protested that the move is a serious violation of EU labour law. Moreover, Chelsea's operating costs at home were only 500,000 pounds, and the away travel cost was capped at 20,000 pounds, which shocked the Blues. Because the cost of an away match to the European continent is at least £600,000.
Chelsea has urgently contacted the British government in the hope of relaxing the restrictions on match spending and income and reinforcements, as this is completely destroying the club, which is considered a "cultural heritage" in the United Kingdom. Just after Thursday's ban came out, two new people who had been finalized to sign for Chelsea's youth system were considering switching to other clubs, and some of the club's staff began to leave because the future of the Blue Bridge club could not be determined.
The Blue Bridge suffered a "home raid" overnight, but the future may be worse. In Chelsea's future Premier League matches, when they could not go to away games due to excessive travel expenses, the Blues lost 0-3... Chelsea's licence to "continue to operate the game" is only until May 31, and although it can be "changed, revoked or suspended" at any time, if not revoked at that time, Chelsea will go into custody status and be deducted 9 points. You know, the travel expenditure of 20,000 pounds away from home, even in England, to cities such as Mühleborg and Newcastle in the northeast will exceed the standard.
Abu Ben expects Chelsea to make a smooth transition, to be taken over by a consortium that truly loves football, and to maintain its position as a top-notch giant in the Premier League and even in Europe. However, after the assets were frozen, there were only two options left for Abu: either to abandon the sale completely, watch only the TV revenue pay salaries, no business income and matchday income, and the Blues who could not be reinforced quickly collapsed; or accept the British government to take over the sale and choose the acquirer, and the sale proceeds will also go to the foundation designated by the British government, and they will get nothing.
Obviously, Abu can only accept the second option. Chelsea is a Uk heritage and there is absolutely no shortage of buyers, with more than 10 investors currently expressing a clear interest. However, after the "great change" of this asset freeze, the selling price will be greatly reduced. Abu was originally priced at 3 billion pounds, and now it is difficult to sell even 2 billion pounds.
Chelsea is also urging the restrictions on the sale of the club to be lifted as soon as possible, because after the club's "new income" is frozen, the funds on the account are only enough to maintain the normal operation of the club for several months, and the sale has not been completed until the summer, which does not rule out the possibility that Chelsea will be forced to "bankrupt" and relegated.
The Daily Mail believes that British real estate billionaire Hennick Candy will be the biggest hit to buy Chelsea. The 49-year-old Chelsea fan would have had to join forces with another investor to accommodate Abu's offer. But now, everything has changed. Abu rejected an offer of less than £2 billion from the U.S. capital last week, but now that Chelsea's sale of the right to sell the board has shifted, the investors he leads can completely bottom out and buy the top giant. After the United Kingdom has come out of the new crown epidemic and the society has entered the normalization, Chelsea has been able to achieve profitability with its own operations, and after the expansion of Stamford Bridge Stadium in the future, the game day revenue will increase significantly.
Considering Chelsea's competitive and economic importance in English football, the British Home Office also said that it will not sit idly by and watch the "Blue Bridge collapse", and the Blues will most likely get new investors and continue to operate. But whether Abu will be able to maintain the heights reached by his tireless efforts over the past 19 years is unknown.
Only one thing is certain: Chelsea's "Abu era", which officially ended this Thursday.