Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea Football Club, Roman Abramovich, has been barred from living in the United Kingdom (UK), following a revelation by a Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, that he’s one of the 35 oligarchs in President Vladimir Putin's administration.
Before the recent skirmish between Russia and Ukraine, the owner of Chelsea, has not been seen at the club's headquarters at Stamford Bridge for months, and he is reportedly not likely to live in the United Kingdom again after an alleged relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin which had prevented him from being based in the country or applying for citizenship. He has however in 2018, secured Israeli citizenship which would allow him to enter Britain for up to six months.
According to reports, immigration officials are “under clear instruction to work towards ensuring Mr Abramovich cannot base himself in the UK” despite owning a £125million mansion near Kensington Palace.
Abramovic who had earlier denied his closeness to the Kremlin is among the three billionaires in the UK who may lose some of their assets including the ownership of Chelsea FC. A Labour MP, Chris Bryant told MPs that he had a leaked Home Office document which suggested the Chelsea Football Club owner should not be able to base himself in the UK. Mr Bryant said it was written in 2019 and "little" had been done since then.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Bryant urged the government to take action against Mr Abramovich,( who had claimed he has not done anything that would merit sanctions being imposed against him) including removing his ownership of Chelsea Football Club and seizing his assets.
Quoting from the leaked Home Office document, he said: "'As part of HMG's [Her Majesty's Government] Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices. An example of this is Abramovich admitting in court proceedings that he paid for political influence. Therefore HMG is focused on ensuring individuals linked to illicit finance and malign activity are unable to base themselves in the UK and will use the relevant tools at its disposal, including immigration powers to prevent this."
Mr Bryant noted that the document had been produced three years ago and said: "Surely Mr Abramovich should no longer be able to own a football club in this country?
"Surely we should be looking at seizing some of his assets including his £152m home?"
