Roman Abramovich not interested in selling up Chelsea according to club chairman
Bruce Buck insists that the Russian billionaire, who recently took Israeli citizenship, remains fully involved at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is not interested in “bargain” bids for the Premier League club and remains fully involved at Stamford Bridge, according to chairman Bruce Buck.
The Russian billionaire is not believed to have attended a home match since the spring of 2018, having taken Israeli citizenship after encountering visa renewal issues in the UK.
Plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium were shelved around the same time, but Buck insists Abramovich has no intention to offload the club.
“So far as I know, absolutely not; to the contrary. I have never heard a word from Mr Abramovich: ‘Let’s get this ready for a sale,’ or something,” Buck told the Guardian.
“Because of the political situation, there are people who think they might want to buy Chelsea Football Club at a bargain. We do get enquiries and we really have nothing to say to these people.
“In terms of being involved, in looking at new players, talking about whether to extend players’ contracts, do we buy this player, do we sell this player, (Abramovich) was always intimately involved in that from day one and is just as intimately involved now.
“He talks to Marina (Granovskaia) – the board member who supervises the football operation – several times a day, every day. Marina has been doing that for seven or eight years; that hasn’t let up or changed at all.”
Abramovich has been a major driving force behind the club’s ‘Say No To Antisemitism’ campaign. As part of the initiative, the club has sent a delegation on the March of the Living trip to Poland, held a fixture in Israel against the women’s national side, and most recently, embarked on a scheme with the Royal Air Force Museum, honouring Jewish war heroes.
Read more:
- Chelsea stars Cesar Azpilicueta and Petr Cech show support for Holocaust exhibit
- Chelsea and RAF Museum project to tell untold stories of Jewish ‘hidden heroes’
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