The conflict of conscience about how high the price for goals and triumphs should be could not be ignored in English football on Thursday evening. In the league game between Norwich City and Chelsea, which, as expected, ended 3-1 for Chelsea, both fan camps loudly challenged each other.
Hours after the government ordered the confiscation of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s assets, supporters of the London club vehemently backed the Russian oligarchs. They courted the commodity billionaire with chants and rejoiced at having won “all” club football titles (“We have won it all”) with the help of his loans, which are now estimated at almost exactly 1.8 billion euros. To the direct response of the Norwich fans that Chelsea would have lost “everything” as a result of the state intervention (“You have lost it all”), the retaliation came that Norwich would “relegate” after the season (“You are going down “). The sympathizers of the bottom of the table didn’t let that sit either. The counter: “You are going bust”. You guys at Chelsea are gonna go broke for this!
Unlike most of the teasing in England’s stands, which is otherwise drowned out in the Premier League’s roar, the clash between Norwich and Chelsea resonated. Almost all the leading media worked their way through the declarations of solidarity for Abramovich the following day. the Times headlined that the fans acted like “PR bots for Abramovich and Putin”. The supporters have adored their club owner since 2003 – when he snapped up the former middle-class club as an investment for 200 million euros in order to then shape it into a global brand.
As long as you have “jerseys and a bus”, you will face the situation – says Thomas Tuchel
In Abramovich’s tow, all sorts of other super-rich businessmen bought their way into top English football, even entire countries. Apart from isolated criticism – such as after the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s entry into Newcastle United in autumn 2021, which was branded as sportswashing – fans, media and politicians seemed to prefer the global appeal of the Premier League for a long time, which rose to become the country’s export hit.
But suddenly almost nobody on the island wants to know anything about this anymore after the UK government presented the public with a 42-page sanctions list on Thursday, according to which 204 business people and 65 companies are being punished for their nepotism with the warring Russian state the freezing of their assets.
A “prominent oligarch close to the Kremlin” who has gained “material advantages” from his closeness to Putin: This is how Roman Abramovich is described in a UK government sanctions list.
(Photo: BPI/Shutterstock/Imago)
Second on the list is Abramovich, whose passport numbers have even been released. It is said of him that he is – which he himself denies – a “prominent Kremlin-affiliated oligarch” who has gained “material advantages” through his closeness to Putin and who has contributed to the “destabilization of Ukraine” through his shares in the steel company Evraz target. The concrete suspicion is: Participation in the “supply of steel to the Russian military”. Foreign Minister Liz Truss said martially that the “blood of the Ukrainian people” hangs “on the hands” of those sanctioned, including Abramovich.
To ensure that Abramovich, 55, who has also been banned from entering the country from entering the country, under no circumstances receives a penny from the UK, Great Britain also imposed far-reaching restrictions on Chelsea Football Club. These currently make the club hardly viable.
For this reason, talks between the club and the Ministry of Sport about relaxing the measures are said to have taken place immediately. While the tabloids were already questioning Chelsea’s future competitiveness, coach Thomas Tuchel emphasized that he was “still happy” in London. As long as Chelsea have “enough jerseys and a bus” to go to games, his team will rise to the challenge. When asked about the behavior of the fans, Tuchel replied that he had “not heard” their benevolent calls for Abramovich.
Actually, the ownership structures of many other clubs should be put to the test
While efforts to sell Chelsea FC in the near future, which would guarantee its continued existence, continue with a special government permit in the background, the entire island football is now faced with an inevitable question: How should the excesses of the previously unbridled football capitalism be dealt with in the future will? the Times wrote that everyone in the country should consider how “this dirty profit” could ever be accepted in the first place. Because the almost unrestricted ownership of the clubs to this day, combined with the excessive pursuit of profit, have apparently maneuvered the Premier League into a dead end.
In view of the complex interaction of sporting, political and economic interests, the ownership structures of many other clubs should actually be put to the test. In particular, the Saudi-led Newcastle United, which is ironically a guest at Chelsea this Sunday, even if it is claimed that the club is not under the direct control of autocratic Saudi Arabia.
In view of the new world situation, the league had no choice but to cancel the expensively negotiated TV contract with the Russian broadcaster Okko Sport. There was a similar problem last week with the Chinese provider IQIYI Sports, which itself suspended the broadcast of the England matchday because China did not like the solidarity gestures of the clubs with the victims of the war in Ukraine. As early as 2020, the Premier League clashed with China’s then rights holder CCTV, which had moved the top English games to less popular channels after a political dispute between the two countries.
All of these uncomfortable occurrences suggest that clubs in England are now being faced with the price of their current dominance in world football.