The fall-out from the United Kingdom government sanctions imposed upon Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich continues to have ramifications for their women’s team, the reigning champions of the English Women’s Super League, as sponsors pull out of their partnershipd with the club.
The fall-out from the United Kingdom government sanctions imposed upon Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich continues to have ramifications for their women’s team, the reigning champions of the English Women’s Super League, as sponsors pull out of their partnerships with the club. Over a week after sanctions were imposed on fellow oligarch Alisher Usmanov, whose companies invested in Everton FC, the United Kingdom government finally acted against Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC since 2003. The HM Treasury Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation yesterday declared Abramovich to be “a pro-Kremlin oligarch” who “is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin.” As a result, all of Abramovich’s assets in the United Kingdom have been frozen but Chelsea were granted a special licence until May 31 to continue operating. Chelsea Women’s team share several partners with the men’s team but last February they signed up to their first-ever exclusive deal with investment bank Singer Capital Markets (previously N+1 Singer) who agreed to have their name displayed on the back of the women’s team shorts. In a three-year agreement, the company proclaimed that “the qualities Chelsea FC Women display align with many of Singer Capital Markets’ own values and beliefs.” The women’s team only bespoke sponsor, they have so far not responded to comment on their partnership since the sanctions were put into effect. Yesterday, Chelsea lost it’s main shirt sponsor, mobile phone company Three, who in 2020 signed a £40 million-a-year ($52.3 million) deal with the club, initially for three years. In a statement released in which they promised connectivity packages for Ukranian refugees arriving in the UK, Three declared “in light of the government’s recently announced sanctions, we have requested Chelsea Football Club temporarily suspend our sponsorship of the club, including the removal of our brand from shirts and around the stadium until further notice.
