Amidst the ramifications and complications of the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich, one thing is crystal clear.
If, as his statement less than a fortnight ago insisted, his ownership has “never been about business nor money”, if he “has always taken decisions with the club’s best interests at heart”, if it has always been “about pure passion for the club”, then he has one option.
Give it away.
Give the green light for it to be sold under Government stipulations that not a single penny of the proceeds (net or otherwise) goes to him or to anything - such as a ‘charitable foundation’ - that he sets up.
But considering Abramovich will believe these sanctions are fundamentally unfair, why would he allow this to happen?
His assets have been frozen, not seized, after all.
The chances, though, of his assets being unfrozen any time soon are slim and none.
And none is packing his bags.
If Chelsea remains in the state it is in right now, right at this very moment, for any considerable length of time, it is finished as we know it.
By considerable length of time, we are talking only months, only two or three of them, perhaps.
Even though he is the one being punished here, the future of Chelsea is still, essentially, in Abramovich’s hands.
And in that lies a salutary warning to football as a whole.
It gets trotted out on a regular basis and most of us are guilty.
A football club will always belong to the fans, to the community, not to one person.
Sadly, we are delusional.
Here is how Chelsea’s reaction to the sanctioning news began.
“By virtue of his 100 percent ownership of Chelsea FC plc and affiliated entities, Chelsea FC would normally be subject to the same sanctions as Mr Abramovich.”
We all knew it, obviously, but it looks starker in black and white. A great club belongs to one oligarch.
Without a sale, the consequences are far-reaching. Most importantly, consider the futures of the hundreds and hundreds of employees who work behind the scenes, who are struggling to meet the cost-of-living increases, who were honestly labouring for the club even before Roman came along.
They should be the priority. Then, the fans.
But what about the players? Make no mistake, there will be a queue to get out of there if a solution that means they can still get their hundreds of grand per week is not found.
And the manager? I got some stick earlier this week for suggesting Manchester United should be sounding out Thomas Tuchel, should be trying to take advantage of the searing uncertainty at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel himself said the club was still the ‘perfect fit’ for him and that he ‘loves everything about the club’.
Presumably, that includes the fans, so the decent thing to do now would be to hang on for their sake and persuade the oligarch who employed him to do what he says he has always done.
Take a decision with the club’s best interests at heart. Give it away.
