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Football

11th Mar 2022

Chelsea have bank accounts suspended by Barclays following sanctions against Roman Abramovich

Reuben Pinder

One regular day of Barclays

Chelsea have had their bank account temporarily suspended by Barclays following the sanctions imposed against club owner Roman Abramovich, as reported by the Times.

Abramovich was one of a long list of Russian oligarchs to have their assets frozen by the UK government on Thursday due to close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

This saw Chelsea heavily affected, with the club now unable to enter transfer negotiations, and their expenditure on away travel limited to £20,000 per game.

A license has been issued to allow the club to operate under restrictions, but several corporate credit cards have reportedly been frozen by Barclays, who are being “risk averse.”

On Thursday evening, their main shirt sponsor Three severed ties with the club, though the team did play in shirts with Three branding for their win over Norwich just hours later.

Their kit supplier Nike, however, are standing by the club and are reported to have the intention of seeing out the 15-year deal they signed with the club.

And now, Barclays have suspended the club’s bank accounts temporarily.

Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol explained: “Barclays need time to assess the license that Chelsea have been given which allows Chelsea to carry on their football related activity.

“Chelsea are hopeful the suspension put in place by Barclays will be lifted shortly.”