comment by Blarmy - Supporting Drama FC Since 93 (U14547)
posted 1 minute ago
Our cashflow issue should push buyers to try and speed things up at least

The longer it takes the bigger hole they have to plug when they get the reins

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This depends on RA complying - we are frozen, not seized and still need his approval to write off £3bn and lose a third of his wealth overnight.

comment by puNPE (U22712)
posted 17 seconds ago
comment by Blarmy - Supporting Drama FC Since 93 (U14547)
posted 1 minute ago
Our cashflow issue should push buyers to try and speed things up at least

The longer it takes the bigger hole they have to plug when they get the reins

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This depends on RA complying - we are frozen, not seized and still need his approval to write off £3bn and lose a third of his wealth overnight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
May face losing more long term the longer he's in this country and has assets here.

comment by puNPE (U22712)
posted less than a minute ago
I think it's a mixture of both incompetence (ie. not realising how damaging it is to the club to cut off revenue streams) and taking action because 'something must be done' and 'this is something'.

If they want to 'clean up' football and remove oligarchs and various other less scrupulous backers from football - fine - but the idea Putin suffers or Ukraine is emboldened by us falling into administration is laughable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Exactly 100% this

And like you are saying completely hypocritical in any circumstances - Roman is getting sanctioned for association, little or no proof of giving money to Putin (that I am aware of), so surely this should be the same rules applied to any owner not of countries we cherry pick. Pretty certain the way some of the Saudis and even yanks got their money is unscrupulous as what Roman has allegedly done.....and why only now? He's been here for 20 years.....

comment by puNPE (U22712)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Blarmy - Supporting Drama FC Since 93 (U14547)
posted 1 minute ago
Our cashflow issue should push buyers to try and speed things up at least

The longer it takes the bigger hole they have to plug when they get the reins

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This depends on RA complying - we are frozen, not seized and still need his approval to write off £3bn and lose a third of his wealth overnight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Raine still wanting to proceed implies he is willing to comply

I think the gov is well aware cutting cashflow fks us npe

These asset freezes are more or less designed to do that to companies

comment by Blarmy - Supporting Drama FC Since 93 (U14547)
posted 36 seconds ago
I think the gov is well aware cutting cashflow fks us npe

These asset freezes are more or less designed to do that to companies
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think they were unaware how minimal the provisions are/were in the current licence. A lot of this back of cigarette packet stuff.

I am sure they are pressuring us to be offloaded - but I don't think they want us to collapse within a month.

Tbf we pay a fair bit more apparently for travel and entourage etc than most clubs

but i assume comparable to pool, utd and city

Apparently the PL had 15 mins notice, the fact Chelsea are trying to renegotiate the licence either is a brilliant government power move or they barely were aware of how brutal the licence terms are on Chelsea.

I still don’t get how the Saudi owners pass the test but not Roman.

I guess people care more about Ukraine than Yemen.

Idk I feel like they could’ve just let Roman sell and go away.

It doesn’t feel right to try to kill the club off in the process. Just wash your hands off the Russian money and move on with life.

Gloomy report from Blarmy's Dad:

Chelsea have laid out the doomsday scenario to the Government of how seriously the sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich will affect the club in a desperate bid to avoid having to shut parts of Stamford Bridge and ensure they can complete the season.

Telegraph Sport can reveal that under the current licence that allows the club to operate while Abramovich’s assets are frozen and merchant bank Raine decides on a preferred buyer, Chelsea would not be able to pay for enough security, stewarding and catering to keep all sections of Stamford Bridge open.

And in the very worst-case scenario, Chelsea do not believe they would be able to complete the season under the current terms of the licence which they are hopeful will be reviewed in the coming days.

Chelsea have argued that the club needs ticket sales to bring in enough revenue to remain operational and that the £20,000 cap on travel would not have even covered the cost of going to Norwich on Thursday night, let alone travelling overseas for Champions League games.

Under the sanctions that were imposed on the club on Thursday morning, Chelsea were told that the cost of hosting a home game must not exceed £500,000, but the Government have been informed that it costs between £800,000 to £1million to stage a Premier League match.

Chelsea have appealed to the Government that they could not provide security, stewarding and catering in some areas of the ground and not others, insisting that their only option would be to shut areas or full stands within Stamford Bridge.

As part of that appeal, Chelsea have insisted that allowing them to sell tickets and bring in operational revenue would not provide any profit for Abramovich. They have also argued that the current licence needlessly punishes supporters and undermines the club’s cultural importance.

The licence is not expected to be amended in time for Sunday’s game against Newcastle United, which means supporters are set for a very different Stamford Bridge experience.

There will be no official programme on sale outside Stamford Bridge, as only subscribers or those who have already purchased hospitality packages will be able to get one. That means the programme kiosks will be shut and those who usually sell them have been stood down.

Chelsea will continue to pay staff members, even if they have been stood down, but freelance and contract staff will not be paid.

The club shop will remain shut and Chelsea were on Friday making a decision over what will be displayed on the front of the players’ shirts at the weekend. The club’s main shirt sponsor Three have suspended their deal and asked for their logo to be taken off, but Chelsea do not have a stock of blank shirts to use. That means the players are likely to either still wear the Three logo or it will be covered up.

Other than asking for all their branding to be removed from the shirts and the stadium, the Three hospitality boxes will be empty on Sunday as all activity between the telecommunications company and Chelsea has been suspended.

Supporters who had purchased stadium tours before March 10 will have them honoured, but no new tours can be bought from that date which will lead to more staff being stood down unless a new government licence allows them to restart.

Chelsea’s Champions League trip to Lille next Wednesday will not be affected by the sanctions, as the club had already booked and paid for their trip to France.

Bidders for the club will receive an update from Raine, the merchant bank looking after the sale, over the weekend. The three leading bids have currently come from a Todd Boehly-led group, the Ricketts family and Woody Johnson. British businessman Nick Candy insists he remains interested in putting together an offer and plans to be at the Newcastle game.

Jamie Reuben, who is a director and shareholder at Newcastle, has distanced himself from reports that he could launch a bid for Chelsea, the club he supported.

Assuming Abramovich goes ahead with a sale of the club, Chelsea’s bidders will need approval from both the UK government - specifically Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries, and the office for sanctions implementation - as well as the Premier League.

It still doesn’t make sense to stop us from earning any money yet force the club to still incur expenses. Surely that revenue can go to the club but not Roman for example.

comment by CSTP (U1453)
posted 16 seconds ago
It still doesn’t make sense to stop us from earning any money yet force the club to still incur expenses. Surely that revenue can go to the club but not Roman for example.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thats how the freezes work man, we are lucky we were given the concessions apparently

Normally a frozen company isnt allowed to trade at all

We’ve been allowed to trade in a really limited capacity

If this was planned (which it clearly wasn't) the PL would have set up a holding ground for our money which we could then get back when sold - instead we're going to incur big losses and have a crap transfer window even in the best case scenario of being acquired in a few weeks.

We know how to handle crap transfer windows

Yeah honestly we feck up more when we can spend tbh

It's weird Marina is excellent at sales but our scouts can't pick players to save their lives.

I’m gonna miss Marina

Maybe sanctions have changed this but Boehly/Wyss reportedly wanted her to stay.

If we lose Marina but gain a scouting and analysis department to rival City and Liverpool im good tbh

I prefer both

Skeptical Marina without Roman as her boss would be the same

She had free reign because of his trust that she wont necessarily get from the new owners

think she'd be better with a tighter remit