Roman Abramovich was the alleged victim of an attempted poisoning earlier this month. The 55-year-old, who is selling Chelsea while under government sanctions, showed symptoms including red eyes and peeling skin following peace talks in Kyiv, according to Wall Street Journal.
The oligarch and at two least Ukrainian negotiators developed symptoms, WSJ said, with a separate report from Belingcat saying that the incident occurred on the night of March 3. Those affected were examined the following morning after travelling west to Lviv and then the Polish border, the Bellingcat report added.
Abramovich has since been pictured in an airport in Israel on March 15 and WSJ said that he has recovered from the alleged attack. The attempted poisoning is reportedly being blamed on hard-liners in Moscow who they said wanted to sabotage talks to end the war. A spokesperson has been contacted for comment.
READ MORE: Deadline set for Chelsea's next owners
The transfer of Chelsea's ownership is expected to be completed in late April or early May after the bank that has overseen the sale on Abramovich's behalf, the Raine Group, set a deadline of April 11 for the four shortlisted groups to submit final offers. Raine plan to submit an application to have the terms of the club's operating licence changed by the government on April 18 with Downing Street demanding that no money goes to Abramovich.
From there the prospective buyer will need to go through the Premier League's owners' and directors' test before completing the final paperwork. Richard Masters, the league's chief executive, has previously said that the quickest a club has previously changed ownership is 10 days.
