The government of the United Kingdom released a statement this Thursday, revealing that the assets of seven Russian oligarchs have been frozen. This includes Roman Abramovich, who is still the owner of Chelsea despite his plans to sell the club.
The other oligarchs affected are Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska, Andrey Kostin, Alexei Miller, Nikolai Tokarev and Dmitri Lebedev, but Abramovich is the most high-profile because of his ownership of Chelsea.
Chelsea can’t sell new tickets for matches, including games in the European Champions League, and the club’s merchandise stores will be closed, according to the U.K. Treasury. Player transfers are banned, as are new contracts.
“There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine,” Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the UK, said.
“Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”