Revealed: Chelsea record broken as £40m Roman Abramovich payment confirmed
Roman Abramovich oversaw payments of nearly £6million to board members in the final year of his Chelsea premiership, Football Insider analysis shows.
The oligarch billionaire was forced out of Chelsea after he was sanctioned by the UK government for his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin last March, with the sale to Todd Boehly’s group completed in May.
His lieutenants in the boardroom – directors Marina Granovskaia and Eugene Tenenbaum, chairman Bruce Buck, and chief executive Guy Laurence – all departed before or shortly after the takeover.
Chelsea’s 2021-22 accounts released last Saturday (8 April) show that the club shelled out £5.9m in director remuneration that season, almost double the previous term’s £3.2m total.
Just north of £1m of that figure was chalked up to compensation for loss of office within the financial year, meaning base pay was £4.75m.
That is a club record for a single season and takes the total amount paid to directors since Abramovich acquired the club in 2003 to £39.8m.
Former directors also shared £49.75m worth of payments for their role in the sale of Chelsea to Blueco 22 Limited, the consortium led by Boehly.
Unlike the £1m loss-of-office figure in the accounts, those services were outside the club’s employment terms.
Chelsea now have an 11-person strong list of executive directors including Boehly and his business partner Behdad Eghbali.
The £2.5billion generated by Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea was promised to be redirected to the victims of the war in Ukraine.
But the proceeds are still frozen and a foundation waiting to distribute the money is awaiting UK government approval.
Boehly meanwhile has sanctioned close to £600million worth of investment in new signings, as well as having made promises to redevelop Stamford Bridge at great expense.
But Chelsea – whose 2021-22 accounts presented an eye-watering £121m loss – have had a torrid season and are in danger of falling foul of financial fair play limits without Champions League football next term.
In other news, pundit tips Mason Mount to reunite with former Chelsea boss after source’s reveal.