Peskov claims an “economic war” is being waged against Russia

The British government has sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and frozen his assets, including English Premier League football club Chelsea.

In a statement on Thursday, the British government said Abramovich had “frozen his assets, imposed a ban on transactions with British individuals and companies, a travel ban and transport sanctions”.

Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, announced last week that he was selling the club but the sanctions have now cast doubt on the sale and the immediate future of the Premier League team.

“To ensure the club can continue to compete and operate, we are issuing a special license that will allow matches to be fulfiled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches, while most importantly preventing Abramovich from exercising his ownership of the Club to benefit,” British Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said in a tweet.

She added that the government’s priority is “holding to account those who made the Putin regime possible”.

According to the UK government, Chelsea will still be able to “fulfill its fixture plans and conduct football business” but certain actions will not be allowed, such as selling tickets to matches in excess of those already sold to fans.

Abramovich and Putin’s ally Igor Sechin are among seven oligarchs and politicians who will be put on the British sanctions list.

The sanctions are estimated at nearly $20 billion (£15 billion), the UK government has said.

Last month, British lawmaker Chris Bryant ordered Abramovich to lose ownership of Chelsea after seeing a leaked 2019 British government document blaming Abramovich for his “links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activities.” and Practices” has been identified as a person of interest.

In its statement, the UK government said Abramovich, who is worth around $12 billion (more than £9 billion), was “one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to stand out under Putin”.

Seven more oligarchs and politicians are added to the sanctions list, including: