BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson is rolling out sanctions as if the multi-billion dollar English Premiership League is about a Russian called Roman Abramovich and his involvements in the aggressions against Ukraine. Johnson will ruin EPL, a model League that has attracted a lot of investments into Britain, well beyond the immediate vicinities of football.
Sanctions imposed on Russians interests close to the leadership have been extended to Abramovich’s ownership of Chelsea, a team the Russian ownership has taken out of ordinariness.
Uncertainties have enveloped the League. Shutting down Chelsea’s businesses – shirt sales, players’ transfers and purchases – deduct from their essences as a brand. New buyers would be wary of they are getting into in the League. Chelsea are not the only ones affected but most hit by the sudden turn of events. They would in the days ahead know what they cannot do, and at the immediate point of trying to do something.
Teams are losing partners, sponsors, and engagements that extended their brands which kept the tills busy. There are no alternatives.
Clubs with diverse ownership could survive. Chelsea belonged to Abramovich fully. The shut down income streams through sponsors, partners, merchandise of players, clothing, memorabilia, and direct funding from Abramovich will kill the team.
More intriguing are the prescriptions on how much the team could spend on trips for matches which are essentially contracts with other partners, done outside the Premiership – and Britain. Did the British Government ponder the consequences of Chelsea failing their contracts, including the UEFA Champions League?
Were any thoughts given to the dire implications of the sanctions on the psyche of foreign investors? The main fuels for the Premiership are resources from foreign investors. If it happens to a club owner in the weight of the Russian billionaire, what is their fate?
The future of the Premiership is at stake.
Johnson is toying with the best global brand out of Britain. Whatever happens to Abramovich, Russia, Ukraine, would be sorted out at a table that would forget the impact of the sanctions on lives round the world. How would the destruction of Chelsea and the League stop the invasion of Ukraine?
Abramovich has agreed to sell, why not allow Chelsea to function until a new owner is in place?
The fixtures from tomorrow would be played with the tensions of the sanctions as a massive cloud over the EPL. There has never been any such threat over the Premiership in its 30 years than the Johnson jaundice.
Are there possible beneficiaries? Yes, lotteries that could introduce bets to include whether Chelsea would be available for their next fixtures.
When the Premiership survives this, its next major task will be convincing investors that it is a safe turf to play.
*Saturday 12 March*
Man Utd v Spurs
Brentford v Burnley
Brighton v Liverpool
*Sunday 23 March*
Chelsea v Newcastle
Everton v Wolves
Leeds v Norwich
Arsenal v Leicester
Southampton v Watford
West Ham v Aston Villa
*Monday 14 March*
Crystal Palace v Man City
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