Following sanctions by the UK government, Chelsea’s company credit cards have been temporarily frozen.
The Athletic reported this on Friday, a development which could affect logistics and operations of the London club.
According to The Athletic, the freezing of Chelsea’s credit cards could leave the club stranded and “unable to buy fuel for the team bus.”
This could hamper movement of the defending champions’ for their games in the UEFA Champions League and Premier League.
British authorities Thursday announced sanctions against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich over his alleged ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Following the freezing of the club’s assets, Chelsea jersey sponsor Three suspended its partnership with the London club.
The report states that sources have warned that, despite the license allowing Chelsea's day-to-day activities to continues, several of the club's corporate accounts, including credit cards' have been frozen.
This is due to banks being 'risk-averse' as a source told the Times: “The licence allows the club to continue with day-to-day activities but the banks don’t have the risk appetite for it. They’ve frozen some of the corporate credit cards. It’s put a lot more pressure on the club.” A senior source at the club continued to confirm that the Club are concerned about the situation as they said: “It’s making it even more difficult to run our day-to-day operations." It remains to be seen as to the implications of the bank accounts being frozen as the Times continues to state that the 'immediate concern' for Chelsea is that the crisis can trigger administration and a nine point deduction.
