The fall-out from the United Kingdom government sanctions imposed upon Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich continues to have ramifications for their women's team, the reigning champions of the English Women's Super League, as sponsors pull out of their partnerships with the club.
Over a week after sanctions were imposed on fellow oligarch Alisher Usmanov, whose companies invested in Everton FC, the United Kingdom government finally acted against Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC since 2003. The HM Treasury Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation yesterday declared Abramovich to be "a pro-Kremlin oligarch" who "is associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, namely Vladimir Putin."
As a result, all of Abramovich's assets in the United Kingdom have been frozen but Chelsea were granted a special licence until May 31 to continue operating. Chelsea Women's team share several partners with the men's team but last February they signed up to their first-ever exclusive deal with investment bank Singer Capital Markets (previously N+1 Singer) who agreed to have their name displayed on the back of the women's team shorts. In a three-year agreement, the company proclaimed that "the qualities Chelsea FC Women display align with many of Singer Capital Markets’ own values and beliefs." The women's team only bespoke sponsor, they have so far not responded to comment on their partnership since the sanctions were put into effect.
Yesterday, Chelsea lost it's main shirt sponsor, mobile phone company Three, who in 2020 signed a £40 million-a-year ($52.3 million) deal with the club, initially for three years. In a statement released in which they promised connectivity packages for Ukranian refugees arriving in the UK, Three declared "in light of the government’s recently announced sanctions, we have requested Chelsea Football Club temporarily suspend our sponsorship of the club, including the removal of our brand from shirts and around the stadium until further notice. We recognise that this decision will impact the many Chelsea fans who follow their team passionately. However, we feel that given the circumstances, and the Government sanction that is in place, it is the right thing to do."
Later that evening, Chelsea's global charity partner Plan International, who have worked with the club since 2015 and have their name displayed on the back of the women's team shirts, also cut ties with the club. "Plan International UK is horrified by the continuing conflict in Ukraine, which is already having a devastating impact on the lives of children and their families."
"Since the conflict began, Plan International UK has been reviewing our partnership activity with Chelsea Football Club. In light of the sanctions imposed today by the UK Government on Roman Abramovich, we are bringing forward the closure of our partnership with Chelsea Football Club, which was due to end in May 2022."
Their decisions came too late for the women's team's match away to West Ham United in which the English champions played with both sponsors names still emblazoned on the front and back of their shirts. However, the sanction barring the club from making ticket sales forced the club to suspend the purchase of tickets on the club's website for their next three home matches.
Even though the women's team sold out their full allocation of season tickets for the first time at the start of this season, the impact of the sanctions may have a disproportionate effect on the women's team who rely more on game-by-game ticket sales than the men's team who have sold around 28,000 season tickets.
With four players out of contract at the end of the season, the club will be unable to renew their deals should the snctions persist into the summer. They would also be unable to buy players or sell any or their existing squad. For a team built around its successful recruitment of the world's best players, such as Pernille Harder, in a world-record transfer, and Sam Kerr, reportedly the highest-paid active female player in the world, this will be a severe impediment to its close-season plans.
Today, another shirt sponsor, Hyundai, the global automotive partner of the club whose name appears on the sleeve of the women's team shirts issued this statement, “Hyundai has become one of the strongest partners in football over the years and the company supports the sport to be a force for good. We are currently assessing the situation with Chelsea FC.” Most damagingly of all, Chelsea's kit suppliers, Nike are reportedly considering "walking away" from their 15-year deal signed in 2016 which could cost the club around £540 million ($707 million).
Not all of Chelsea's sponsors have deserted them, the club’s official training wear partner Trivago, the German technological company specializing in internet-related searches, today published a statement declaring their continued support for the club. "The uncertainty over the current ownership situation of Chelsea FC has been challenging. Moving forward, it is important to us to continue supporting the club, the fans and community along with the essential work that the Chelsea Foundation does to help those in need. We are looking forward to a transition of ownership as soon as possible and want to support the club in this process. We will provide any update to our business relationship if and when appropriate."
They added "as a company of global citizens, we cannot condone the unprovoked and catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. We believe in a free world, freedom of speech and peace. We continue our efforts together with our teams to support the humanitarian efforts and to ease the suffering of the affected population. We stand with Ukraine."
Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of last night's match, the women's team manager Emma Hayes implored the team's supporters to give the club time to work through the ramifications of a momentus day. “There’s no denying, it’s a difficult day, but I think it’s important that we give it time”.
“So I think, for all the questions everybody has - the players, fans, staff - we have to give the club time to work through that. I know from my end that I’m a leader of this team and we’re going to have to navigate a difficult period and one where I don’t have all the answers for it."
After the match she added, "There is so much we don’t know. There might be players that have already agreed to come into the club and we don’t know the likely impact of that. Or players that are out of contract."
“What I know is that the DCMS (The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) will work through that with the club, and maybe the club will help educate the DCMS a little bit more about how clubs operate and what we need to operate. We are certainly co-operative with that."
