The UK Government has announced that Chelsea director Eugene Tenebaum is one of the latest individuals to be hit with sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Canadian international has had his assets frozen.
Whilst he was born in Ukraine, the official reason behind the sanctions has been confirmed as his close association with Abramovich. Tenebaum has been a member of the club’s board of directors since 2003, so it now remains to be seen whether his role with the Blues will be affected due to the current sanctions.
There are also questions to answer over the current state of the Chelsea takeover, due to the sanctions handed out to Tenenbaum. The Raine Group has set a deadline of 10pm BST on Thursday for official bids and paperwork to be submitted, with four parties currently in the running to complete a deal.
READ MORE: Roman Abramovich has already given Chelsea's new owners two clear instructions as takeover nears
Consortia spearheaded by the likes of Sir Martin Broughton, Todd Boehly, the Ricketts family and Stephen Pagliuca all remain in the running to secure ownership of Chelsea.
Some will certainly be wondering whether the sanctions handed out to Tenenbaum will affect the search for a new owners and the simple answer is that it shouldn’t do. The Canadian is currently not involved in the negotiations between Raine or the interested parties.
That does not mean that there won’t be a slight impact on the immediate future of the takeover. With the Government confirming the latest round of sanctions only hours ahead of the deadline, it might well serve as a distraction for those at Stamford Bridge as they keep an eye on developments.
