Football ignored the truth about Roman
Abramovich’s oligarch money for too long
David Conn
The facts about the Chelsea owner’s assets have always
been there to see for anyone who cared – but too few in the game did
It must
have been a bracing morning call at Stamford Bridge, with the news that Roman
Abramovich is now considered so toxic that the government has slapped him with
sanctions after 19 years in which he has been garlanded as the Chelsea
benefactor.
For the UK,
the Premier League, for football – for all of us – it would feel a little
better if we could say this has come as a terrible shock, that nobody has known
enough about Abramovich all these years. But sadly that kind of reassurance
would be just more self-delusion, and the times we are in surely demand a bit
of straight talking.
Of course
it was stunning to see the government actually freeze Abramovich’s assets,
overthrowing his and Chelsea’s complacency with one closely typed paragraph
damning his closeness to Vladimir Putin. But really the shock was mostly of recognition,
pointing past the emperor’s clothes – and trophies, in Abramovich’s case – to
some naked truths in plain sight all along.
The court
proceedings referred to by the Home Office, in that document Chris Bryant read
out to such dramatic effect in the Commons two weeks ago, took place in 2012.
By 2019, after the novichok poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal
in the everyday English city of Salisbury, the government took the view:
“Abramovich remains of interest to HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] due to his
links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and
practices … An example of this is Abramovich admitting in court proceedings
that he paid for political influence.”
The court
judgment by Mrs Justice Gloster stated that it was Abramovich’s own case that
the political lobbying activities of his former oligarch partner, Boris
Berezovsky, providing him with political krysha (protection) were: “Inherently
corrupt, and that likewise, the deal between the two men, whereby Mr Abramovich
agreed to pay Mr Berezovsky for his krysha services, was also corrupt.”
The
judgment also noted that Abramovich had “very good relations” with Putin,
including “privileged access” to the Russian president.
How the
money was made was known and well-reported by 2003 when Abramovich bought
Chelsea, and the club’s successes have been funded with his oligarch money.
Players were bought in waves as never before, and he bankrolled transfer fees
and wages the club could otherwise not have paid. In that way he bought the
Premier League, the Champions League and, just days before Putin invaded
Ukraine, the Club World Cup.
It could
also be comforting to lay blame for the reverent indulgence of Abramovich at
the doors of just the Premier League, the Football Association or a succession
of governments more than happy for Britain to soak up cash from anywhere. But
that would be a cop-out too: the facts have been there for anybody who could be
bothered to care.
There was,
though, a wilful obliviousness to the known facts of how he had become an
oligarch, and he proceeded to cement his presence and Chelsea’s super-club
status while football adjusted to his mega-spending. After it was all laid out
in 2012, his representatives said Gloster had not got her assessment quite
right. They played down Abramovich’s relationship with Putin, pointing to
evidence that he was “not in the inner circle”.
Recently,
he started even to come on to the pitch to celebrate a trophy. For those who
did care, it was painful to see César Azpilicueta, the modern model
professional with his work ethic, captain’s armband and side parting, ushering
his owner to centre stage with the Champions League trophy at the final last
season. The globally broadcast images of Abramovich, with his wide, triumphant
smile and his hands on football’s greatest prize, were not a great look for
football, for Britain or for Europe.
Finally the
government has ploughed through all the froth, stating in its reasons for the
sanctions that Abramovich is a “pro-Kremlin oligarch” who has had “a close
relationship for decades” with Putin, and had “preferential treatment and
concessions from Putin and the government of Russia” including contracts in the
run-up to the 2018 World Cup. His company could supply steel to the Russian
military, which could be used to produce tanks, and could provide money, goods
or technology “that could contribute to destabilising Ukraine”.
There is a
clear challenge for English football, which is important even in this
horrifying context, as the glamour and legitimacy it bestows is coveted by all
manner of regimes and money men. It must ask whether it does enough to ensure
that its irresistible sport and adored clubs are forces for good in the world –
because after being captured by cash, its rules have been exposed as laughably
inadequate.
Even now,
its owners and directors test appears to approve Abramovich as “a fit and
proper person”. The rules were designed to stop small-time crooks taking over
small football clubs, and have never been equipped for the Premier League’s
modern age. People are barred if they have a criminal conviction for dishonesty
or have been made bankrupt.
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