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Saturday wasn’t the first time Todd Boehly has been to Stamford Bridge, but it was the first time he had been there as the new owner designate and he looked disappointed by Chelsea’s 2–2 draw against Wolves. The consortium he heads signed a contract last week to buy Chelsea, and that sale will go through so long as approval is granted by the Premier League and the U.K. government.
Premier League approval should be a formality, but some bureaucratic difficulties could remain with the government, which effectively forced the sale by sanctioning Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Payment has to be made in such a way that the Russian oligarch is not seen to have benefited. After some doubts last week, Abramovich reiterated that he would not be seeking repayment of the £1.5 billion ($1.85 billion) he had loaned the club over his 19 years in charge, saying he had instructed his team “to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated.” He had previously said the foundation should support “all victims” of the war in Ukraine. Quite what “net proceeds” means, though, is unclear.
