Roman Abramovich's plan to give the "stewardship" of Chelsea to the trustees of the club's charitable foundation is facing a number of hurdles.
In a 110-word statement, the 55-year-old announced on Saturday night that he wanted to hand over day-to-day decision-making, a move the club said was made to protect its reputation amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich has vehemently denied any direct links to Russian president Vladimir Putin or being involved in politics and the club say he has done nothing to deserve government sanctions. His spokeswoman claimed on Monday morning that he has been asked to help broker talks between the countries that began on the Belarus border earlier.
Now the Charity Commission has sought clarity around the billionaire's plan to hand over ultimate decision-making and received an incident report from the foundation, while at least one of the six existing trustees of the foundation holds reservations around the move over a potential conflict of interest with their existing work.
In a statement the Charity Commission said: “We have contacted the charity seeking information and, in line with our guidance, the charity has also made a report to the Commission. We cannot comment further at this time.”
The foundation has six trustees, who do not receive a salary, but it is intended for Lord Seb Coe, the head of World Athletics, to join. Coe sat next to Petr Cech and behind chairman Bruce Buck, who is one of the half dozen trustees, during yesterday's Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool at Wembley.
Two other trustees are employees of the club: Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea women, and Paul Ramos, the director of finance.
The committee is completed by Piara Powar, the former head of Kick It Out; John Devine, a partner at the law firm Muckle LLP; and Sir Hugh Robertson, chairman of the British Olympic Association.
Discussions around the proposals were held yesterday and at least one of the six trustees has raised concerns around conflicts of interest.
Chelsea could replace any trustee who is not on board with the plan but that could all be deemed irrelevant if the Charity Commission deems the transfer of decision-making is against the law.
