Chelsea have been hit after the UK Government sanctioned club owner Roman Abramovich over his alleged links to Vladimir Putin in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with many sponsors attempting to distance themselves from the club while it searches for a new owner.
Abramovich has been disqualified as a director of the club and has seen his assets frozen although Chelsea have been handed a special license that allows them to continue with “football-related activities”.
The government are overseeing a sale of the club while the team have continued with their matches on the pitch and have played Norwich and Newcastle in the Premier League.
It comes as several sponsors, including shirt sponsor Three, have suspended their deals with the club following the sanctioning of Abramovich. Three, the telecoms company, announced they had asked Chelsea to remove their logo and branding from the club’s shirts as well as from around Stamford Bridge and their Cobham training ground.
Three’s deal with Chelsea is worth a reported £40 million a year while other companies such as Hyundai and Zapp have also suspended their sponsorship agreements. Nike, Chelsea’s kit manufacturer, plan to honour their multi-year deal, however.
Despite Three’s request for their logo to be removed from Chelsea’s shirts, their branding was still prominent in the Premier League fixtures against Norwich and Newcastle.
In its original statement last Thursday, Three said: “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.”
In the case of the Norwich match, Three’s statement was published just two hours before kick-off at Carrow Road, leaving Chelsea little time to alter their match kits.
However, when Chelsea played Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the Three logo remained on the shirts because the Premier League side were unable to transfer the funds needed to produce fresh shirts in light of the sanctions placed on Abramovich and the restrictions facing the club.
It has left Chelsea having to ignore Three’s request, and the telecoms company are said to be understanding of the Blues’ predicament while discussions are taking place with Nike to reach a solution.
Three confirmed that they remain in discussions with Chelsea over removing the logo from the shirts but the club have been unable to do so because of “kit supply issues and license restrictions”.
Three said in a statement: “We understand from discussions with Chelsea FC that there are ongoing issues with removing the Three logo from the shirts, as a result of kit supply issues and license restrictions.
“We have requested that Chelsea reverts with a solution to this issue as soon as possible.”
