Former Liverpool central defender and now pundit Jamie Carragher has described Roman Abramovich's Chelsea sanctions as "nonsense".
The supporters have been left wondering when they are going to finally find out who Abramovich's successor will be in west London. The Raine Group have now released their shortlist and the potential American ownership of Chelsea is now highly likely with the options remaining. However, since the Government sanctioned the Russian due to his supposed links to Vladimir Putin, the fans of the club have certainly been on a rollercoaster.
First off, the decision to close the club shop was one that affected every supporter who wanted to perhaps buy the Blues shirt with the FIFA Club World Cup badge on it. On top of this, the issue of tickets sales has meant that certain sections of the fanbase couldn't travel to Middlesbrough, with some still missing out on the Real Madrid quarter-final despite changes by the government. It's not only Abramovich who has been hurt by the sanctions, but the supporters too.
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Something Carragher believes shouldn't have been the case as he delivered his honest opinion on how he thinks Boris Johnson and co have handled this uncertain Chelsea situation. "I don't understand that at all, closing the club shop," he stated on the third edition of the Overlap's Fan Debate series.
"Not letting fans in - I don't understand what you gain from that to be honest. Is that because they [the government] think that Chelsea make a bit of money, I mean that's absolutely nothing compared to the funds that we are talking about regarding what Abramovich is going to sell for and what he's put in himself.
"I don't really get the government sanctions at all but I just think they are a nonsense." Carragher's former bitter rival on the pitch but good friend now off the pitch Gary Neville weighed in with his opinion on the matter: "I think what the government did was put a massive wall in front of it and say let's stop everything.
"And what they are doing now is rowing back from that and allowing the club to operate to get to the end of the season or until a new buyer is found. So, I think it was the case of right let's stop him [Abramovich] taking money out which they have done. But I don't understand the tickets bit because that money could still be held in a private account somewhere."
