Kieran Maguire fumes as £2.5bn Chelsea funds frozen – ‘you can’t justify this’
There is no justification for the fact that £2.5billion from the Chelsea takeover is still frozen in Roman Abramovich’s company bank account.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the cash that was promised to help the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Abramovich, who has close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, was forced to sell Chelsea in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A consortium of American investors fronted by LA Dodgers grandee Todd Boehly paid £2.5bn for the West London club in May and promised to invest a further £1.75bn over the next decade.
But The Times reported last Wednesday (31 August) that the money is still in Abramovich’s company account almost four months on from the sale.
An unnamed MP told The Times that the Foreign Office have been “hopelessly slow” in organising the redistribution of the cash.
Maguire insists that there are simply no excuses for the lack of urgency from the Government.
“It’s difficult to see the justification for the sale proceeds to remain frozen in a bank account,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“People are in need of assistance now. Yes, of course, there have to be the correct checks and balances for any distribution of a large sum of money to make sure it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
“But there are many legitimate charities and causes that are trying to help the people of Ukraine.
“For no progress to have been made to date is a reflection of the lack of organisation among the people who are supposed to be making these decisions.”
In other news, Alan Hutton issues “shocking” Marc Cucurella verdict after what he’s just seen at Chelsea.