SINGAPORE - Local Chelsea fans have also been affected by the sanctions imposed on Blues owner Roman Abramovich on Friday (March 11) by the British government in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The assets of the Russian billionaire, who is said to be close to President Vladimir Putin, have been frozen and they include the Chelsea Football Club, which is ranked by Forbes as the seventh most valuable in world football at US$3.2 billion (S$4.36 billion).
Kalvinder Singh Gill, 38, a Chelsea fan since 1994, had been planning to travel to London this year to watch the Blues in either the FA Cup semi-final or final if Thomas Tuchel's men qualified. Chelsea face Middlesbrough in the quarter-final on March 19.
He has since been forced to abandon those plans.
Said Kalvinder, who last watched Chelsea live in 2020: "I was looking forward to going to London in April or May with my wife and watching the team but I am not sure if that is possible anymore. There is no clarity at the moment on how long this situation will last so there is no point in planning anything for now."
While season tickets will remain valid under the sanctions, any new sales from March 10 are prohibited, including away matches.
Chelsea, who could play in a nearly empty Stamford Bridge stadium if the team make it through to the next round of the Champions League, plan to challenge that. They are "seeking permission for the licence to be amended in order to allow the club to operate as normally as possible," the club said in a statement on their website.
Raymond Ng, 29, who has followed Chelsea since 2006, was planning to catch English Premier League games in England but will now have to settle for watching from home.
"Over the last month, I have been looking at accommodation and flight prices but I was holding out only because I was uncertain about the Covid protocols. I feared that if I had booked, there may be a case of new restrictions being put in place in terms of travel and quarantine. The last thing I expected was that I won't be able to buy tickets to the matches."
Some fans like Kalvinder also fear for the club's reputation.
Telecommunications firm Three announced this week it was suspending its sponsorship deal with Chelsea and demanded its logo be removed from players' shirts. Shirt sponsors Hyundai have also suspended their partnership with the club.
Said Kalvinder: "Chelsea fans and those who follow the sport closely will understand what is happening but there are going to be a lot of people who may wrongly think that the club is involved in the war and that the club supports it. Chelsea has a growing base of fans and the younger people may have a bad impression of the club now. That is going to affect future sponsorship as well."
Despite the gloom surrounding the club, Khairul Anwar, 28, remains positive even if the Blues are not able to invest in the squad for the foreseeable future.
"As a Chelsea fan, of course it is sad to see this happening but it's not the end of the club. The team has plenty of young talents coming through, some of whom are on loan like Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja. I think there is a solid foundation to lean on and I expect us to get over this storm."
