S'pore fans feeling the Blues as sanctions kick in

Local Chelsea fans have also been affected by the sanctions imposed on Blues owner Roman Abramovich last Thursday 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. They include Chelsea, who are ranked by Forbes as the seventh-most valuable club in world football at US$3.2 billion (S$4.4 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-finals or final if Thomas Tuchel's men qualified. Chelsea face Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

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 any more. 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 last Thursday are prohibited, including away matches.

Chelsea, who could play in a nearly empty Stamford Bridge stadium if they make it through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, plan to challenge that.

Chelsea are "seeking permission for the licence to be amended in order to allow the club to operate as normally as possible", they said in a statement on their website.

Raymond Ng, 29, who has followed Chelsea since 2006, was planning to catch English Premier League games 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 said last week it was suspending its sponsorship deal and demanded its logo be removed from shirts. Shirt sponsors Hyundai have also put their partnership on hold.

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, 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."