Chelsea ‘may be forced to travel to games on easyJET flights’

The Blues may now be forced 'to use budget airlines'

Chelsea players have reportedly been told the club will no longer travel by private jets and stay in five-star hotels amid their financial insecurity. The Blues' owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government as a result of his close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He is one of several high-profile Russians with interests in the UK who was named in a government report which sees all of their assets frozen. Under the sanctions, Chelsea are banned from offering contracts, buying players and even selling tickets and merchandise. The club are also stopped from spending more than £20,000 on away travel or carry out any building work on Stamford Bridge. As reported by the Mirror, the London outfit may now be forced 'to use budget airlines' including Easyjet after the players were told they will not be travelling to away games via private jets or staying at five-star hotels. A source told the Sunday People: "With the numbers of staff the club take away and the hotels they stay in, that figure will be nowhere near enough to keep up the standards players are used to. "Staff at the club are joking, but only half joking, that they're going to have to start using Easyjet to away games." It comes after Hyundai announced that they had suspended their sponsorship deal with Chelsea as a result of the sanctions imposed on Abramovich. The Automotive manufacturer became the second sponsor - after front-of-shirt sponsor Three - to announce the termination of their deal with the European champions. Abramovich was also disqualified as a director of Chelsea on Saturday, but the Premier League's decision is not expected to impact the sale of the club with the government watching over as bids are likely to come in within the next week. Chelsea were handed a special license in response to the sanctions imposed on Abramovich to allow them to continue with "football-related activities."

Related links:

• Hyundai suspend Chelsea sponsorship deal
• Chelsea will ‘run out of cash’ in 17 days as club beg Government to relax sanctions
• Chelsea have bank accounts suspended by Barclays following sanctions against Roman Abramovich