Chelsea fans have been criticised for chanting the name of Russian owner Roman Abramovich during a minute’s applause in support of the victims of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Premier League clubs are making a show of solidarity with Ukraine during this weekend’s round of matches, with all 20 captains wearing yellow and blue armbands – the colours of Ukraine.
There has also been a moment of ‘reflection and solidarity’ before kick-off in each game, with the big screens at stadiums displaying a ‘Football Stands Together’ message.
But at Turf Moor on Saturday ahead of Burnley’s clash with Chelsea, as the home side rose to their feet to applaud the victims of Ukraine, the away end started to chant the name of their owner – who revealed on Wednesday he is looking to sell the club.
For the latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war, visit our live blog: Russia-Ukraine live
They were quickly booed by Burnley fans, with the chant – and especially the timing of it – in rather poor taste given that Abramovich could face sanctions as a result of the invasion.
While the Russian oligarch has always denied having close ties to Putin, he is described as a ‘person of interest to the Home Office because of his links to the Russia state and his public association with corrupt activity’, as Labour leader Keir Starmer put it in parliament last week.
Labour MP Chris Bryant has led the calls for Abramovich to be sanctioned, claiming the 55-year-old is ‘terrified’ by the prospect of having his assets frozen and is in the process of selling off properties he owns in London.
A day after Bryant’s remarks, Abramovich publicly confirmed that he was actively looking to offload Chelsea – which he has owned since 2003 – and he is believed to have as many as 10 legitimate offers for the club, which is valued at £3billion.
In his statement, the Russian claimed he will not ask for the £1.5bn in loans he has given Chelsea to be repaid and that net proceeds from the sale will go to a new charitable foundation he is setting up which will ‘benefit all victims of the war in Ukraine’.
Prime Minster Boris Johnson initially refused to comment on the prospect of Abramovich being sanctioned, but on Friday he suggested the Chelsea owner could be in the government’s crosshairs but they are waiting to have a watertight case before proceeding.
‘None of us want to live in a country where the state can take your house off you without a very high burden of proof and due process,’ he told foreign press when asked why Abramovich has not been sanctioned yet.
‘There’s no point saying, yeah, we’re going to go after him, and then you come up against the brick wall of lawyers. So we have to get it right.
‘We’re also trying not to just make this about one individual. The top line of what our package on Monday will do is that the measures that you have against individual oligarchs in Europe will essentially allow us to catch them too.’
While the show of support at Turf Moor may have been marred by Chelsea’s Abramovich chants, elsewhere in the Premier League fans wore yellow and blue to show solidarity with Ukraine and Norwich City fans created a tifo in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
MORE : Boris Johnson finally explains why Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has not been sanctioned yet
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