The proceeds from the forced sale of Chelsea Football Club in 2022 have grown by hundreds of millions of pounds while sitting untouched in a British bank account, according to newly published accounts for Fordstam Limited, the company through which Roman Abramovich owned the club.

The £2.35bn generated when Abramovich sold Chelsea to Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Consortium in May 2022 has now risen to nearly £2.5bn, the accounts show, according to The Guardian. The funds, held at Barclays, have earned at least £175m in interest, including £114m in 2024 and nearly £63m the year before.

A sale that never delivered on its promise

Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale in March 2022, days before the UK sanctioned him over his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin, and pledged that proceeds would go to victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More than four years later, none of the money has reached its intended recipients.

The impasse centres on a disagreement over scope. Abramovich has argued the money should support ‘all victims’ of the war, not exclusively those in Ukraine, a position the UK government rejects. Any transfer would also require a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, the UK regulator that administers sanctions law.

We have been clear from the start that the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea FC must be used for humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy issued a joint statement saying the government remains open to negotiation but is ready to go to court if necessary. ‘While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible,’ the statement said.

Lawyers dispute confiscation threat

Lawyers for Abramovich have pushed back hard against suggestions the funds could simply be seized. ‘This is fundamentally incorrect. It is important to emphasise that the funds, although currently frozen, remain the property of Fordstam Limited, which is wholly owned by Mr Abramovich,’ they said, according to reporting cited by Yahoo News. They added that any formal confiscation attempt ‘will be contested in court.’

The dispute is complicated further by a separate criminal investigation in Jersey, where prosecutors are examining whether the sale proceeds could be regarded as proceeds of crime by scrutinising the original source of Abramovich’s fortune. Abramovich may also seek repayment of £1.4bn in loans extended to Fordstam by Camberley International Investment, a Jersey-registered vehicle linked to him, a claim that could shrink the amount ultimately available for any donation.

Stefan Borson, head of sport at law firm McCarthy Denning, described the arrangement in stark terms, calling it ‘the most profitable football business in the world,’ a reference to the scale of interest the frozen sum has accumulated while the underlying dispute remains unresolved.

With no resolution in sight and both sides publicly signalling willingness to fight the matter in court, the funds look set to remain locked in place, continuing to accrue interest, while the humanitarian need in Ukraine that Abramovich once cited as his reason for selling the club enters its fifth year.

This article is free to read. It always will be — no paywall, no account, no tracking.