Chelsea bank account and credit card has been temporarily suspended, reason for the suspension is that the bank requires time to assess the licence Chelsea have been given to continue football-related activities.
“Nobody in the UK is allowed to do any business with Abramovich.”
Although, Chelsea are hopeful the suspension will be lifted shortly.
Chelsea have a special licence to carry on their football-related activities after Abramovich had “his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions” imposed on him. But Barclays have to be sure they are comfortable taking the risk of carrying on providing banking services to Chelsea. Most banks are very risk-averse.
The sanctions are intended to stop him from making any money in the UK, but the government has granted Chelsea a special licence to allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
However, Chelsea cannot offer new contracts to players or staff, conduct any transfer business or sell new tickets to matches as things stand.
“Barclays suspending Chelsea’s bank account is going to have serious, serious repercussions for the club.
“The issue Barclays have got is that the bank account is in the name of Chelsea but the owner is still Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the UK Government.
“They do not want to do business with people that have been sanctioned by a government. Just because the UK Government say Chelsea can continue to carry on and play games it doesn’t mean Barclays are going to be comfortable with that arrangement. It’s well within their rights to withdraw banking services completely. But this is a temporary suspension and Chelsea are hopeful the suspension will be lifted shortly.
Skysports reports.
