Article by Mihai Șovei – Published Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 2:14 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 2:14 p.m.
The British government is reportedly planning to take further action to force its former owner ChelseaRoman Abramovich, to keep his promise and donate the money obtained from the sale of the football club to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
State officials are preparing for a possible lawsuit against Roman Abramovich after he missed a deadline to release the 2.4 billion pounds (2.7 million euros) he collected from the sale of the London club. The Russian oligarch failed to hand over the money by a March 17 deadline amid a dispute over how it would ultimately be used.
The British authorities are preparing to sanction Roman Abramovich
Abramovich handed over the club in May 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the time, he was already on the sanctions list and the money remained stuck in British banks. The Russian businessman promised that the profit from the sale would go to help Ukraine, but he did not reach an agreement with the British government on the specific recipient.
It seems that even the ultimatum received, by which he had to make a decision by March 17, did not change the situation. In this situation, government officials said they will now take steps to prepare for a possible lawsuit so that the money can be spent on humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, as originally planned. They wrote to Abramovich's lawyers to warn them of this.
“We gave Roman Abramovich one last chance to do the right thing, but once again he failed to deliver on his commitments. We will now take further steps to ensure that his promise is kept,” said the British government, according to The Guardian.
Roman Abramovich // PHOTO: Gulliver/GettyImages
Chelsea in the midst of scandals
London club Chelsea were recently fined £10m and given a conditional transfer ban after admitting making £47m of secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties. These irregularities are related to transfers made between 2011 and 2018, during which the Russian was in charge of the team.
The club self-reported the violations to the relevant authorities. In addition, Chelsea received an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a £750,000 fine over irregularities in the registration of young footballers between 2019 and 2022.
Chelsea fined over £47m in secret payments / Imago Images
