Chelsea’s annual accounts show that the club made a loss of £121 million in the 2021/22 season and the club say that this is as a result of the financial sanctions the United Kingdom government put on former owner Roman Abramovic at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year.
It should be noted that the UK government froze assets of Russian billionaires in the UK that were believed to be connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Abramovic’s Chelsea were not spared, even when Abramovic claimed he was neutral in the conflict and even sought to bring the two warring countries on the table for talks.
The sanctions made Chelsea cash-strapped for a period that forced the club to operate on a very restricted special license for three months which restricted Chelsea from selling tickets, accepting event bookings at Stamford Bridge and even signing contracts with players.
However, the special license was lifted after American billionaire Todd Boehly took over the club for an astonishing £4.25 billion from Abramovic on May 30, 2022.
Since then, Chelsea have splashed over £600 million on new players in both the summer and January transfer windows even though they have not helped the club yet as they sit 10th on the Premier League table and are facing Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea’s accounts also show that the club made a profit of £123 million in summer player sales including Tammy Abraham (to AS Roma), Marc Guehi (to Crystal Palace), Fikayo Tomori (to AC Milan), and Kurt Zouma (to West Ham).
