Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea, is reportedly still angry over his forced sale of the club, according to former player John-Obi Mikel.
Abramovich, who purchased Chelsea in 2003 and invested heavily to transform them into Premier League champions and two-time European winners, was forced to sell the club in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK government imposed sanctions on Abramovich due to his alleged connections with Vladimir Putin, and his assets were frozen.
Chelsea was sold to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital shortly after. Over two years later, Abramovich remains upset about the situation, as revealed by Mikel. Speaking on his Obi One podcast, Mikel said, “It’s just unfortunate what happened: he lost the football club. I still speak to people close to him and it still pains him. He’s still angry about what happened.”
Mikel further noted, “He’s not happy that he lost his ‘baby’ because Chelsea Football Club was his football club. He really cared about the football club, not just the players but the fans.”
These remarks come amid fresh reports from The Guardian, alleging that Abramovich used offshore schemes to evade taxes related to his luxury yacht fleet. Abramovich’s legal team has denied any wrongdoing, stating that he followed professional tax advice and had no knowledge of any tax evasion.
