“The former owner of London Chelsea refused to comply with the request of the Prime Minister of Great Britain to transfer funds to the newly created aid fund for Ukraine by March 17.”, — write: football.ua
The former owner of London Chelsea refused to comply with the request of the Prime Minister of Great Britain to transfer funds to the newly created aid fund for Ukraine by March 17.
Getty Images December 27, 2025, 11:23 p.m
According to TimesSport insiders, Roman Abramovich is not going to comply with this requirement in the specified time. Representatives of the businessman argue for this on two key factors: Abramovich claims that he cannot authorize the transfer of funds until the Jersey government closes the case on the legality of the origin of his capital. While these legal disputes are ongoing, any movement of funds may be considered a violation.
The British government insists that the money should go exclusively to humanitarian needs in Ukraine. Instead, Abramovich wants the funds to be distributed among “all victims of the conflict,” which would theoretically allow some of the money to be directed to territories controlled by the Russian Federation.
London categorically rejects such a position. Keir Starmer’s government has already prepared an action plan in case the deadline is ignored. If the money does not arrive in the fund’s accounts by March 17, the UK will launch a massive legal process against the oligarch to forcefully confiscate the assets.
“This is the last chance for Mr Abramovich to fulfill the promise he made when he sold the club in 2022. If he does not act, we will do everything necessary through the courts to ensure that these funds finally reach the people whose lives have been destroyed by war,” Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said.
It will be recalled that the funds from the sale of Chelsea to Todd Boeli’s consortium in May 2022 are kept in a frozen account in a British bank. Despite the numerous promises of the parties, in three years not a single cent of this sum was spent for humanitarian purposes due to bureaucratic and legal obstacles.