Chelsea sanctions explained: Can they buy and sell players in summer?

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British government has announced new sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Premier League side Chelsea, whose sale is pending. All of Abrahimovich's assets, capital gain, and his club Chelsea have been frozen.

As a result, the team can not be sold. "Restrictions related to the freezing of property, the same property are also all entities owned or controlled by Roman Abramovich. That means his Chelsea football club is now also frozen property under UK financial sanctions," said the UK government in an official statement.

The British government has also specified that it has issued a special permit that would help the Blues continue their soccer activity, in order to protect the interests of the Premier League and the fans of the London club. "It includes allowing Chelsea to continue playing matches and other sports-related activities, which in turn will protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans, and other clubs," the statement adds.

What are Chelsea allowed to do?

Chelsea can keep playing games in the three competitions that they take part in this season, the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, and the FA Cup. They can also receive money from TV broadcasts of all the matches, and the Blues have been authorized to allocate season tickets to season ticket holders. Thus, only fans who own season tickets will be allowed to enter Stamford Bridge.

What are Chelsea not allowed to do?

They have not been permitted to sign new players, sell their own players, or reach any agreements on new contracts with players whose deals expire in June 2022. That means that players like Antonio Rudiger, Charly Musonda Jr., as well as Barcelona-linked Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta, will leave the London squad for free this summer, while Saul Niguez is set to return to Atletico Madrid.

In addition, Chelsea can't sell new tickets for the games, and they will not be able to make money by selling items from the club store. Furthermore, the club will not be able to be sold and have owners, unless Abramovich agrees to hand up control of the process to the UK government, in which case he will not earn any money from the sale.