Chelsea have been placed under a special operating licence after the Government sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The club must now operate under certain restrictions which cover the men’s, women’s and age-group teams.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the details of what the club can and cannot do.
Sale of the club
Any licence to sell the club would have to ensure there was no benefit to Roman Abramovich, PA understands (Nick Potts/PA)
The current licence does not permit Abramovich to sell the club, which had been his stated intention. However, PA understands the Government would consider an application for a new licence to allow the sale of the club, provided it is demonstrated he would not benefit in any way from that sale. He has previously said the proceeds of any sale would go to support the people of Ukraine.
Payments out
1/ 4🧵Putin’s attack on Ukraine continues & we are witnessing new levels of evil by the hour. Today the Government has announced further sanctions against individuals linked to the Russian Government. This list includes Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club.
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) March 10, 2022
A document issued by the Treasury states the club can continue to pay the salaries, allowances and pensions of all employees. Fees, dividends and other allowances to directors which pre-date the licence can be paid, with the exception of anything due to Abramovich.
Fees related to the day-to-day maintenance of club facilities can be paid, but no money can go towards new capital works or refurbishment of Stamford Bridge or any other club-owned sites.
Payments in
Broadcasting fees can still be paid to Chelsea (Justin Setterfield/PA)
The club can still receive money from other clubs for existing loan or player sale arrangements.
Television revenue and performance fees can still be paid to the club.
Transfers and contracts
Cesar Azpilicueta’s contract expires this summer (John Walton/PA)
No new player sales or purchases will be permitted under the licence, and discussions on new deals for players who are out of contract in the summer – such as men’s team captain Cesar Azpilicueta – must go on hold.
Match day
It's matchday! 😁
West Ham v Chelsea. COYB! 👊#CFCW pic.twitter.com/Ao3ejdEwyV
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 10, 2022
Travel costs for any match played by a team representing Chelsea will be capped at £20,000. That immediately raises the issue of how the men’s team will be able to fulfil future Champions League away ties beyond next week’s last-16 second leg against Lille.
Fees of up to £500,000 for hosting any Chelsea match can be paid for security, stewarding and so on.
Existing ticket holders can still attend matches, and purchase food and drink while there.
Merchandise
Only existing stocks of Chelsea merchandise can be sold (Adam Davy/PA)
Third parties who purchased or produced club merchandise prior to March 10 are permitted to sell existing stocks, on the condition that no funds or other financial benefits are made available to the club or Abramovich.
Other points and principles
I have announced a full asset freeze and travel ban on seven more of Russia's wealthiest and most influential oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up pressure on the Putin regime. 👇https://t.co/MfWvFtnNuo pic.twitter.com/xASSX8WG22
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) March 10, 2022
The club are obliged to keep records of any activity permitted under the licence with a value exceeding £5,000 for a minimum of six years.
The licence expires on May 31. The Treasury reserves the right to vary, revoke or suspend it at any time. The core principle of the licence is to deny access to revenue, beyond what the club needs to operate on a day-to-day basis.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here