Chelsea are just now recovering from the mess caused by the Russian war of aggression.
The club world championship in February 2022 was the last title for Russian-owned Chelsea. PDO
History is now being written with an even denser comb. The latest information tells Vladimir Putin having been active in the background so that his favorite oligarch Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in the summer of 2003.
Until now, it has been imagined that the ex-owner ran into financial problems Ken Bates found the connection to Abramovich himself, but the super agent who handled the deal Pini Zahavi assistant Yakov Gershenzon elaborated the story to the Russian Championat-for the magazine.
– Abramović had the support of the entire government. They needed a route to Europe, and London was the number one destination because it was so prestigious, Gershenzon said.
Of course, Putin remained hidden in the background the whole time. It was clear that he wanted to get the credit oligarch to a prominent place in the heart of European football.
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Roman Abramovich was a familiar sight at Stamford Bridge. PDO
Editor of the Financial Times of Catherina Belton says in his book In Putin’s inner circlehow Putin would have personally urged Abramovich to grab Chelsea so that “Russia and its companies would get good PR on the London Stock Exchange”.
– I don’t think that Abramović would have dared to go it alone. It was about billions, Gershenzon continued.
In almost 20 years, the London club Chelsea Russianized so completely that it was nicknamed “Chelski”.
Abramovich has vehemently denied that he benefited financially from his friendship with Putin. He came under EU economic sanctions as soon as the war was extended in March 2022, and because of that he had to sell Chelsea’s Yankee billionaire Todd Boehly for the group he leads.
Boehly also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, which he led to the 2020 World Series championship.
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Todd Boehly recognizes color. PDO
Abramović celebrated the Club World Cup with Chelsea in early 2022, but during Boehly’s tenure, the results have not met expectations.
Manager Graham Potter has finally somehow got the team under control. The Blues secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate.