Roman Abramovich controversy: Ukraine war victims may receive less than half of £2.35bn Chelsea sale

Martin Macdonald

• 4 Nov 2025 14:06 GMT
• 5 min read

News

Concerns have been raised as it seems not the full amount received by Roman Abramovich from the sale of Chelsea will be sent to a charity helping victims of the war in Ukraine.

The Russian bought Chelsea in 2003 and set about instigating a spending spree the likes of which the sport had never seen before.

His tenure coincided with the club's most successful period its history as the Blues won a flurry of trophies including numerous Premier League titles as well as the holy grail - the Champions League.

In 2022, he was forced to sell Chelsea to Clearlake Capital due to his ties to Russia president Vladimir Putin. He was sanctioned by the UK government who deemed him unsuitable to be a director of a Premier League club.

Since leaving Chelsea, Abramovich has avoided the public eye and is largely in exile.

The £2.35billion he received from the sale is frozen in the bank account of Fordstam Ltd, the former parent company of Chelsea, which he owns.

It was previously thought that full amount would eventually be give to charity, but it has now been revealed that only net profits will be gifted, as loans need to be repaid.

The Fordstam accounts, signed October 10, 2025, state: “The intention of the owner of Fordstam limited, Roman Abramovich, as announced in a public statement, is for the company to gift the net proceeds of sale, after allowing for other balance sheet items, to a charitable foundation set up to benefit those who have suffered due to the war in Ukraine.

“Once this is done and all balance sheet items cleared then the intention is to liquidate the company.”

Once the balance sheet has been cleared, that will leave around £923 million to be sent to the designated charity - much less than half of the sale proceeds.

No funds can be paid from Fordstam’s accounts to settle the loans or to the charity until the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) grants a licence.

In order for the full amount to be paid to the charity, Abramovich would need to write off the loans he initially gave to Fordstam to fund the purchase of Chelsea back in 2003.

£1.429billion is owed to Camberley International Investments Limited, the Jersey-registered company owned by Abramovich.

Kieran Maguire, a football finance expert at the University of Liverpool, told The Times:

“The expectation that the full proceeds of the sale of Chelsea would go to the victims of the Ukraine war appear to have been overplayed. The slow progress in distributing the money, partially due to queries raised by parties connected to Abramovich, and the loans repayable to his offshore funding company, could result in a much smaller than anticipated distribution, assuming that one is finally made.”

The UK Government to sue Abramovich?

Abramovich wants the funds to go to all victims of the war between Russia and Ukraine, but the UK Government wants all the funds to go to the victims from Ukraine only and they are prepared to sue to make that happen.

A joint statement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy read: “The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion.

“We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach an agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.

“While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible."

Football transfer news headlines today

TRANSFER RUMOURS: Arsenal reach 'verbal agreement' as €120m offer prepared

The perfect January signing for every Premier League club

Ignore the criticism! Enzo Maresca is managing Estevao PERFECTLY

Conor Gallagher to Man Utd: Fabrizio Romano reveals the state of play

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store