Sanctions against Abu, Chelsea are on the verge of a shutdown

On an ordinary Thursday morning, there was not much crowd on Broadway in Fulham, and at ten o'clock, there were gradually scattered fans walking towards the Chelsea store outside Stamford Bridge.

March 10 is a club match day, but it is a league away trip to Norwich, so Stamford Bridge is quieter. This time to buy souvenirs, often some tourist fans. A group of tourists from Malaysia to London on holiday, excited to buy goods in the store, before they could pay the bill, suddenly a few security guards came over, asked them to put down their goods and leave the store immediately: "Because we have to close the door." ”

At the same time, a notice was posted in front of the store confirming that it would be closed from time to time.

10 minutes ago, the British government announced that it would freeze the assets of seven Russian billionaires in britain, including Roman Abramovich. The most influential and fastest-moving of these is, of course, Abu's Chelsea Football Club, the recent Champions League champions who won the Club World Cup.

The assets freeze sanctions are entirely for political reasons, and there is nothing to hide in the sanctions announcement. In the past two weeks, rumors have spread that Abu's assets in Britain will be frozen, but it is not known when the first boots will land. Abu had a quick reaction, first wanting to hand over the club to the Chelsea Charitable Foundation for trusteeship, but this attempt was quickly unsuccessful. Abu then announced the sale of Chelsea Club, and attracted negotiations from a number of consortiums including the United States, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and so on, but Abu's initial sale of 3 billion pounds is obviously unrealistic to complete quickly.

The British government announced on the morning of March 10 that it had frozen its assets, directly throwing chelsea club's current operations and future prospects into a huge whirlpool. The direct impact of sanctions on the club as Abu's private property includes the following:

Chelsea will operate under a special licence issued by the government, valid until 31 May. Clubs can complete the rest of the season, but any money in and out of the club will be closely monitored, and any operational activities that may bring economic income will be suspended;

For all the remaining games of the season, Chelsea Club cannot sell tickets, only season ticket holders or those who purchase tickets before the ban is issued can come to the scene to see the ball, which is to stop the club from earning new income by selling tickets, but the club may also try to issue tickets for free;

All club transfers, contract renewals and other actions involving contract changes were suspended. Although there is no possibility of transfers from European clubs until 31 May, the renewal of existing players is unlikely to continue, which means that Rudiger, Christensen and Azpilicueta, whose contracts expire after the end of this season, cannot renew their contracts with the club. Before the ban was issued on 10 March, the club's income involving player transfers and loans could be extended;

Home matchday security, fan service and other activities will continue, but any souvenir sales will stop. Inventory souvenirs can be sold to the outside world, but the proceeds from the sale cannot be returned to the club;

The team's home and away operating costs for future events have a clear amount control: the total cost of a single away game cannot exceed 20,000 pounds, and the operating cost of home games cannot exceed 500,000 pounds per game;

Chelsea's matches will still be executed under previous media broadcast contracts, so Chelsea's matches will not disappear from the media broadcast during the sanctions period;

The salaries of players, coaches and club staff will still be paid normally in accordance with the previous contract, but Abu will not be able to make any financial input to the club.

The content is not numerous and complex, but it is a political sanction that has never been seen in the professional sports industry. The direct impact is that the club is in an inexplicable chaos.

Abu is eager to sell Chelsea, is early vigilance about sanctions, but such a high-priced club, he has invested more than 1.5 billion pounds in the past 19 years, transaction costs are too high, eager to sell, potential buyers will be slow to play fast. After the sanctions order was issued, several of Abu's agents in the club communicated with the British government for the first time, and the reply was that the possibility of continuing to sell the club existed, but it was necessary to obtain a separate license issued by the British government to operate. What the British government wants to ensure is that even if the change and closing of the club's equity is completed, the proceeds of the sale will not flow into Abu's hands in the slightest.

Although the sanctions order, the continued payment of the salaries of players, coaches and club staff, there is permission to "execute according to the original contract", but Chelsea Club's cash flow is not ideal, there are reports that the current club's book liquidity is only 16 million pounds, if you can not sell tickets to get some immediate income, the future media rights and other income after the arrival of income, the government intervention will also pose a threat, so some club executives said: "If the club can not be allowed to operate normally, the deficit will skyrocket. The club is likely to collapse overnight. ”

The collateral effects have already happened, with several of Chelsea's biggest sponsors, like Telecommunications operator Three, which sponsors Chelsea £40 million a season, suspending their partnership with Chelsea and asking Chelsea to remove the shirt logo; Hyundai Is also "evaluating" partnerships; equipment sponsor Nike, as an American company, is bound to have tremendous pressure on the political side.

The more far-reaching impact is the sale of the club. As soon as the sanctions ban came out, the current transaction negotiations were of course suspended. Abu sold Chelsea is not easy, because Chelsea's prosperity in the past 19 years, all based on Abu's continuous blood transfusion of the club, the club's competitive performance is outstanding, but its own revenue capacity, and the traditional European giants are still slightly different, Stamford Bridge less than 42,000 people capacity, but also restricts the increase in club income. Abu has tried many times to renovate and expand the stadium, or build a new home stadium, but has repeatedly failed, and the new stadium is too difficult in the heart of London. For clubs to maintain long-term competitiveness, they are bound to break through the capacity bottleneck of Stamford Bridge, and breaking through itself is a huge cost, especially for future buyers.

The sanctions ban, Abu had long expected, the club and thousands of Chelsea fans, was swept by the torrent, do not know the future direction. The Premier League, in the face of political sanctions, has no response. Abu's investment in Chelsea, this club, this league are all deep beneficiaries, but in the face of the political torrent, everyone is silent.

On the evening of 10 March, Chelsea played away to the bottom team of the league, Norwich, and the head coach Tuchel and the players must have been affected by the ban news, but the performance on the pitch was still outstanding, and the two-goal lead set the victory shortly after the opening. Towards the end of the match, Chelsea fans who accompanied the team on the road sang in unison to taunt the home fans: "You are going to be relegated!" ”（“You’re going down”）。 The home team fans responded: "You're going bankrupt!" ”（“You’re going bust”）

A glittering dream of 19 years has come to an end.