Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Roman Abramovich confirms Chelsea are for sale and writes off £1.5bn loans

Roman Abramovich confirms Chelsea are for sale and writes off £1.5bn loans

Roman Abramovich has put Chelsea up for sale and the billionaires Hansjörg Wyss and Todd Boehly are part of a consortium trying to buy the club

Roman Abramovich has bowed to growing pressure to call time on his ownership at Chelsea by confirming the club are up for sale. The Russian acted after a fresh call in parliament on Wednesday for him to face sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine and there is already interest from a consortium fronted by the billionaires Hansjörg Wyss and Todd Boehly.

Sources have said at least one other group is preparing to make an offer this week. Abramovich revealed that all net proceeds – understood to be the money from any sale minus legal fees – would be used “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”. He also confirmed he had written off the £1.5bn of loans he has made to Chelsea since taking over in 2003.

The first move from interested parties came when Wyss, a Swiss businessman, said he had been invited to join a consortium. The 86-year-old, worth a reported £4.3bn, has partnered with Boehly, the part-owner of the LA Dodgers baseball team, who is worth an estimated £5bn. Several more investors are involved, with at least two others understood to be from the US. Interested parties have been invited to make official bids by March 15

Abramovich’s position had been under growing uncertainty since he announced plans to transfer the care and stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation last Saturday. That move came amid calls in parliament for him to face sanctions, with the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, the latest to demand action on Wednesday.

Abramovich has vehemently disputed reports suggesting his alleged closeness to Vladimir Putin and Russia or that he has done anything to merit being sanctioned. But one source said that the 55-year-old had lost the will to fight because of the increasing political pressure.

“I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart,” Abramovich said. “In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the club’s sponsors and partners.

“The sale of the club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and club. Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.”

Abramovich said the sale was an “incredibly difficult decision” and that “it pains me to part with the club in this manner”. He said he hoped to make a final visit to Stamford Bridge to say goodbye.

The Labour MP Chris Bryant, one of Abramovich’s fiercest critics, reacted by telling the Guardian: “It all feels like a desperate attempt to save face. And save himself from being sanctioned. All he really needs to do is go on telly and say: ‘Vladimir, take the Russian tanks back home and do it now.’”

Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss billionaire.


Sources have said that the powerful director Marina Granovskaia and chairman, Bruce Buck, would be unlikely to stay at Chelsea under a new ownership.

Interested parties had been looking to move swiftly in case Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK government, at which point it is unlikely a sale would be permitted. It is understood the US bank Raine has been tasked with making the sale.

Wyss told the Swiss newspaper Blick: “Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly. I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2bn. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price.”

Wyss said he would not act alone. “I can well imagine starting at Chelsea with partners,” he said. “But I have to examine the general conditions first. But what I can already say: I’m definitely not doing something like this alone. If I buy Chelsea, then with a consortium consisting of six to seven investors.”

Boehly reportedly had a £2.2bn bid for Chelsea rejected in 2019 and is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the the US company Eldridge Industries, which invests in sectors including media and sport. Wyss has worked with Boehly at Eldridge. The Swiss is is the founder and the former president and chairman of Synthes Holding AG, a medical device manufacturer, and a supporter of liberal and environmental causes in the US, where he lived for a number of years.

The situation is fluid and other bidders are yet to publicly show their hand. The Ineos chairman, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has reportedly tried to buy the club in the past.


Starmer pressed Boris Johnson at prime minister’s questions to sanction Abramovich, telling the Commons: “He’s a person of interest to the Home Office because of his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices. Last week, the prime minister said that Abramovich is facing sanctions. He later corrected the record to say that he isn’t. Well, why on earth isn’t he?”

Johnson said it was not “appropriate” for him to comment on individual cases at this stage.

The Premier League has said a show of solidarity with Ukraine will be visible at all its matches this Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×