Kieran Maguire lambasts broken Chelsea promises amid new £3.3bn leak
The lack of urgency to divert the funds from last May’s Chelsea takeover to the victims of the war in Ukraine is unacceptable.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the £2.5billion which was promised to those affected by the conflict.
Roman Abramovich was effectively forced to sell Chelsea following UK government sanctions early last year, with a group led by American billionaire Todd Boehly ultimately paying a world-record sum.
As revealed by Football Insider on 30 December, that money remains frozen in Abramovich’s company account, with the Foreign Office unable to provide any meaningful update.
The Guardian reported last Friday (6 January) that leaked files now show that at least £3.3bn worth of assets were transferred to Abramovich’s children before the sanctions hit.
It is also claimed that 10 offshore trusts linked to Abramovich were hastily restructured three weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The government’s inaction with regard to the Chelsea money is deplorable, claims Maguire.
“It’s very disappointing that the sale proceeds have been stuck in an Escrow account for such a long period of time,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“People are dying and suffering in Ukraine. I can understand the reluctance of the government to give this money away without it being properly monitored, but it does seem like there is a lack of urgency.
“Abramovich himself has said that he wanted that money to go to relief for people affected by the war, although that was never properly defined at the time.
“What we have at present is an issue of governance rather than Chelsea themselves, and no blame can be laid at the hands of the new owners of the club.“
In other news, multiple clubs in race to sign Chelsea star Dion Rankine after talks held.