Chelsea fans reacted with shock and dismay after turning up at Stamford Bridge on Thursday morning only to find the club’s ground and merchandise shop closed to the public.
Security staff began escorting people away from the west London ground and sealing off the entrances with metal barriers less than two hours after the club’s owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK for his alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The Russian-Israeli billionaire, who put Chelsea up for sale last week, became one of seven oligarchs to have their UK assets frozen over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Cousins Faris Abdullah and Syahmi Anuar, both 20, were left holding back tears after arriving just minutes after the ground and shop closed.
The pair, dressed in matching Chelsea shirts, had travelled to London from Malaysia with 13 other family members in a trip costing around £30,000.
“We’re so disappointed,” Faris told The Independent. “We’ve been planning to come here and buy some merchandise and souvenirs to bring home to our friends and today was supposed to be the day.
“I’m trying to hold it in, honestly. I’m trying not to think about it just to avoid the tears.”
The cousins said they had supported the club for as long as they could remember and this was the first time they had made the journey over from Malaysia to visit the ground.
“I’ve supported them for as long as I’ve lived,” said Syahmi, “Even my bedroom is decorated in Chelsea colours.”
Paul, 58, said he wanted to see a “clean Chelsea Football Club” with money that “comes from good sources”.
It was barely lunchtime and already teeing up to be a long day for season ticket holder Clive Winter, who left his home in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, at 6am to visit Stamford Bridge before catching a bus to the Norwich match.
Abramovich sanctioned
What it means for Chelsea
- no new tickets can be sold
- no players bought, sold or loaned
- no money recouped from merchandise sales
- reasonable expenses allowed for matches like travel, security and catering
- Future TV revenues can only be spent on essential operating costs
The retired civil servant, 61, who has been a Blues fan since he was a child and even managed to sneak Chelsea on to his daughter’s birth certificate as a middle name in ode to the club, said he couldn’t understand the rationale behind the sanctions.
“It’s awful to see the reports on TV of what’s happening in Ukraine, it’s shocking,” he told The Independent, but added: “Roman’s been here for 20 years and in that 20 years if the government wanted to do something they’ve should’ve done it.”
“The way the government has gone about it… I can’t see the rationale,” he said.
“How can they squeeze the club because if they got into the Champions League, for example, are we going to play to an empty stadium then?
“Because even as a season ticket holder I can’t buy a cup game ticket.
“I hope when the government untangles their tongue they hopefully make the sale go through as soon as possible.”
Lubos Prikop, 25, said the shock of the news on Thursday morning was “like lightning”.
The Chelsea fan, who set up a podcast about the club back home in Prague, was showing his girlfriend Valerie Maslonkova, 23, the sights at Stamford Bridge during a short break in London.
“It’s like lightning – a very big shock for us and I hope Chelsea will survive this,” he said. “It’s not really good for fans.
“I know Roman Abramovich is a very extraordinary person for maybe the UK government but when Covid was here he helped people who were living here.”
Lubos, who has supported the Blues for about 20 years, said he thought the current situation in Ukraine was “very harsh”.
“We are living very close to Ukraine and we are worried and hope they will find some solution for it because it’s not good for the world, and of course Chelsea,” he said.
Season ticket holder Mamdouh Abougabal, 67, who now lives in Kingston upon Thames, has supported Chelsea since moving to the UK from Egypt in 1985.
He thought the government was wrong for sanctioning Abramovich because there shouldn’t be an overlap between politics and sport.
“I don’t think it’s the right thing to do because being told for the last 30 years living in this country, ‘No mix between politics and sport’, and now this is a real mix,” he told The Independent.
“I don’t like what’s happening in Ukraine, it’s inhumane, it’s a very, very bad move from Russia towards Ukraine being invaded for no reason.”
“Wow, this is so harsh for him,” another fan, with the Twitter handle Ngoalo Kante, wrote. “You have to remember what he has done for NHS workers during pandemic to help the UK health system. He even said he’ll donate all the sales of the club and is involved in Ukraine Russia discussion for peace.”
The news means Abramovich can no longer make money from the club, although Chelsea will continue to operate under a special licence granted by the government.
Abramovich could technically still sell the club, providing he did not receive the proceeds, but Chelsea’s future appears in limbo.
