Chelsea in limbo - New stadium shelved, a game of managerial poker and an owner in Home Office stand-off
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| Chelsea are facing uncertain times |
Roman Abramovich has shelved Chelsea’s £1billion new stadium plans and withdrawn his application for an investor visa to the United Kingdom in retaliation to threats from the Home Office.
Abramovich is also playing a game of poker over Chelsea’s managerial situation, with the billionaire waiting to see whether Maurizio Sarri’s lawyers can force his exit from Napoli while head coach Antonio Conte waits to find out his fate.
The incredible situation playing
out at Stamford Bridge leaves supporters fearing the Blues are stuck in
limbo and falling behind their rivals both off and on the pitch,
despite Chelsea’s insistence that Abramovich remains committed to the
club.
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Following a delay over his application for the renewal of his visa,
which resulted in him missing Chelsea’s FA Cup success at Wembley, the
Home Office warned that Abramovich may have to account for his vast wealth before being allowed back into the UK.
Abramovich has since relocated to Israel
and can now travel to the UK without a visa. But the 51-year-old cannot
work in England and that has prompted him to put Chelsea’s new stadium
project on hold with no promise that it will be resurrected.
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| No more work will be conducted on planning a new stadium for Chelsea |
The Jerusalem Post
has also claimed that Abramovich has now withdrawn his application for
an investor visa, which places serious doubt over the new stadium ever
being revisited under his ownership.
A brief
statement from Chelsea said: “Chelsea Football Club announces today that
it has put its new stadium project on hold. No further pre-construction
design and planning work will occur.
“The club does not have a time frame set for reconsideration of its
decision. The decision was made due to the current unfavourable
investment climate.”
The Jerusalem Post quoted an ally of Abramovich as saying:
“He understands and respects that the UK are reviewing their processes
and has therefore chosen to withdraw until a new process is in place.”
Once the UK sets a new policy, though, “he will want to clarify any
misunderstanding and speculation. He has spent many years in the UK and
is a legitimate businessman, nothing has changed,” the source added.
Abramovich could have put the money together to go ahead with the new
stadium, which would cost over £1bn, but the Home Office stance left
him with no desire to invest into the capital city of a country in which
he could not work.
It is
claimed that Abramovich remains committed to Chelsea and prepared to
keep investing into the team, but failure to move into a bigger stadium
could have long-term repercussions on the pitch.
Stamford Bridge currently holds 41,663, which puts significant pressure on Chelsea
when trying to satisfy Financial Fair Play rules and compete with their
rivals, all of whom have bigger stadiums, in the transfer market.
Chelsea’s new stadium plans had been given the go-ahead by Hammersmith and Fulham Council
as well as Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, but had run into a number of
difficulties surrounding the proposed build and associated costs.
Abramovich previously attempted to buy Battersea Power Station with a
view to redeveloping the site into a new stadium and had looked at
Earls Court as a potential place to home Chelsea.
It appears that Abramovich and Chelsea have been caught up in the
diplomatic tensions between Russia and England after the Government
suggested it would take a harder line on Russian oligarchs in Britain
following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in
Salisbury in March.
That may also account in part for the delay over Chelsea’s managerial situation since the FA Cup final almost two weeks ago.
Talks have been held regarding replacing Conte with Sarri, but Chelsea have been unwilling to pay compensation to Napoli after the Italian club appointed Carlo Ancelotti.
Talks have been held regarding replacing Conte with Sarri, but Chelsea have been unwilling to pay compensation to Napoli after the Italian club appointed Carlo Ancelotti.
A clause
in Sarri’s contract that would allow him to leave Napoli for £7m expires
at midnight on Thursday, but Chelsea have so far been unmoved by that
particular deadline.
It is understood Sarri’s lawyers have been looking at whether or not
he has a case for constructive dismissal against Napoli and Chelsea
appear happy to allow him to explore that route before taking any action
of their own.
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| Maurizio Sarri is hoping to force through a move to Chelsea |
Conte,
who had expected to be sacked, has been left in the dark over Chelsea’s
intentions and is waiting to find out whether or not he will be
replaced.
The state of limbo is a huge concern to fans who have seen Arsenal
replace Arsene Wenger with Unai Emery and Liverpool complete the signing
of Fabinho from Monaco.
Chelsea are interested in Robert Lewandowski, Anthony Martial,
Christian Pulisic and Jean Seri, but have doubts over the futures of
Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Morata.