Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is in the process of selling his London property, Parliament has heard.
MP Chris Bryant, who last week called for the Russian to be banned from owning the Premier League club and to have his home seized, claimed Abramovich is making the move because he is "terrified of being sanctioned".
The Blues owner issued a statement over the weekend detailing plans to hand over "stewardship and care" of Chelsea Football Club to its charitable trust, amid calls for sanctions to be imposed on individuals with ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Abramovich has denied links with Putin, who has sanctioned a number of missile strikes on neighbouring Ukraine, and representatives for the Chelsea owner have been contacted for comment on Bryant's claims about the property.
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"The government has said, quite rightly, that it wants to sanction Duma [Russian Assembly] members, and it wants to sanction members of the Russian Federation Council, but it's not been able to do so yet," Bryant said.
"Alisher Usmanov has already been sanctioned by the EU but not yet by the UK, and I suspect he'll be pretty soon on a UK list, and Everton should certainly be cutting ties with him already
"Roman Abramovich - well, I think he's terrified of being sanctioned, which is why he's already going to sell his home tomorrow, and sell another flat as well.
"My anxiety is we're taking too long about these things," the MP for Rhondda continued.
"Now, I'd have a suggestion on what might help. I fear that the government is frightened of letters, lawyers' letters from all these oligarchs' friends, [and] one way to circumvent that is if ministers just read into the record in a proceeding in Parliament, all the sanction criteria, and then they'd be protected."
The aforementioned Usmanov, whose company USM holdings sponsors Everton's training ground and has Everton owner Farhad Moshiri as its chairman, has seen his assets frozen by the European Union amid the escalating situation in Ukraine.
"Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin," an EU Council statement read.
Meanwhile, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola argued those with ties to Putin should not be allowed to own football clubs.
"Putin's oligarchs and those who bankroll him should no longer be able to use their purchasing power to hide behind a veneer of respectability in our cities, in our communities, or in our sports clubs." Metsola told a European parliamentary meeting.
"During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities," Abramovich's statement on Saturday read.
"I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.
"I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the club, players, staff, and fans."
