The sale of Chelsea Football Club to Todd Boehly has been thrown into doubt amid government concerns over where the proceeds from the transaction will be going. Earlier this month, it was announced that the American billionaire had agreed to buy the club from Roman Abramovich for £4.25 billion.
But Abramovich, who was sanctioned by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is understood to have failed to provide legal guarantees that the money would be distributed to charitable causes, as promised when he put the club on the market.
It was hoped that the sale could be completed before the end of the season, but it has been told government chiefs are ‘gravely concerned’ Abramovich’s stalling will prevent the takeover from going through before Chelsea’s temporary license to continue operating expires on May 31.
Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale before he was officially sanctioned due to his alleged links with Russian President Vladimir Putin and promised to write off £1.6bn in loans he made to the West London club. When asked for comment, Chelsea opted to decline.
After news that an agreement had been reached for him to purchase the club was announced, Boehly was in attendance at Stamford Bridge during Chelsea’s draw to Wolves on May 7. He’s even met with Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes, who are managers of the men’s and women’s teams respectively at the club’s Cobham training ground.
“I had lunch with Todd,” Hayes said. “He watched the girls train. I had a really lovely couple of hours with him.”
[He was] delightful, really passionate, he’s just a normal, down-to-earth guy, really passionate about Chelsea, he loves Chelsea. He’s ambitious, as we are, and it’s a perfect fit. I saw him at one of the games he went to at Stamford Bridge, but he was upstairs and I was downstairs! “
It’s been a turbulent campaign for the west London side off the pitch; however, they’ve performed well on it. They can seal their place in next season’s Champions League with a win at home to Leicester on Thursday. Chelsea also made it to the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finals. However, they lost both matches at the hands of Liverpool.
