Gary Lineker has sent a stark four-word message to Chelsea fans after it was announced that Roman Abramovich was sanctioned on Tuesday by the UK Government.
Abramovich was placed on the the sanctions list by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss who had added Everton's Alisher Usmanov in recent days.
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 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.”
With all still up in the air regarding state of sponsorships, contracts and transfers amongst other issues that are being widely discussed on social media by the anxious fan base, high profile people have had their say on this predicament.
Arsenal fans Piers Morgan has gone down the trolling route whilst Lineker has been more sympathetic in his message to the west London faithful with his bleak four-word message.
He tweeted on his social media account: "Huge ramifications for @ChelseaFC."
