Solihull MP Julian Knight has admitted that he supports the UK government's decision to sanction Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich but wants the impact of those sanctions to be lessened on the club and its fans.
Abramovich was placed on the sanctions list alongside Everton's Alisher Usmanov on Thursday morning. Chelsea will be allowed to continue functioning with restrictions under a special sporting licence that expires at the end of May, but its sale has been placed into doubt and the owner will no longer be permitted to invest.
Among many consequences for the club under the "Russia Regulations" licence, any prize money earned will be frozen and supporters will not be allowed to attend away games.
Players and staff will continue to be receive their salaries and monies owed to clubs will be repaid.
But there are questions over next week's Champions League trip to Lille because a cap of £20,000 has been placed on travel costs. The club were meant to travel by private plane.
Chelsea was put up for sale last Wednesday as Abramovich sought to sever ties with the UK.
The threat of sanctions had been hovering for more than a fortnight with calls from parliament for the oligarch to be added to the government list.
Abramovich has long denied any association with Russian president Vladimir Putin but the government has now stated explicitly that he has been an associate "for decades".
The sanction said: "[Abramovich] is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin, with whom Abramovich has had a close relationship for decades. This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the government."
Despite ultimately agreeing with this decision, Knight says that he does not want the supporters to suffer as a consequence of what the government have decided.
He tweeted: "I support the sanctioning of Abramovich. However, we need mechanisms put in place to ensure fans can still watch Chelsea, the club can trade and ultimately be sold with cast iron assurances that not a rouble goes back to Russia in any form.
"I hope for clarity from the Sports Minister in the coming days."
A Downing Street spokesperson then put out a message around the potential takeover sale.
"We would have to grant a further licence," they said.
"I think it is fair to say the government is open to the sale of the club, but — currently — it would require another licence and that would require a further conversation with the Treasury.
"The principle has been to mitigate the impact on fans... these measures are designed to punish those close to Putin."
Follow all the updates on this developing situation in football.london's live blog here.
