When Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich first sunk his billions into Chelsea Football Club in 2003, Tony Blair was prime minister, Sugababes and Evanescence were on the radio and a very London romcom, Love Actually, made its way into cinemas, although it couldn’t compete with an adorable forgetful fish in Finding Nemo.
At that stage, the English Premier League had long been considered a two-horse race. From 1995-96 until 2003-2004, Manchester United and Arsenal were the only winners, with Liverpool a regular fixture towards the top of the table as well as, for a brief time, Harry Kewell’s Leeds United, a club that disappeared into a budgetary vortex of its own creation in a crazed pursuit of status and success.
Roman Abramovich celebrates Chelsea’s Champions League win last year.Credit:Getty
Chelsea, in London’s ritzy inner-west, had been owned by Ken Bates and could never establish themselves as a serious suitor for silverware. During the same period, the club finished everywhere from 11th to second in the Premiership, while the football public were busy being dazzled by Arsenal’s Invincibles and United’s seemingly endless ability to produce and attract talent.
Abramovich arrived with a starting war chest of £140 million; £60 million for the club and £80 million to write off its debts. It seemed fantastical at the time and the oligarch’s tenure went on to transform the Premier League and give Chelsea fans the success they had always dreamed of.
“It’s not about making money,” Abramovich said at the time. “I have much less risky ways of making money … it’s really about having fun, and that means success and trophies.”
He was right on the first point. By the time he puts it on the market, he will have written off a staggering £1.5 billion ($2.7 billion) of his own loans to the club, clearing the decks for its eventual new owners. But in football terms, he was brutally effective, with Chelsea winning 21 trophies, including five FA Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup, two Champions Leagues and the Premier League five times over.
Two of Chelsea’s earliest signings during the Abramovich era: Joe Cole and Juan Sebastian Veron, with then manager Claudio Ranieri.Credit:Getty
The sale of Newcastle United to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (worth £320 billion) and Manchester City’s purchase by Sheikh Mansour (worth £22.9 billion) has relegated Abramovich (worth £9.6 billion) to third-wealthiest owner in the Premier League, although he remains the single wealthiest sole owner of a club in England’s top tier.
The moves came quickly once he took up residence at Stamford Bridge. He hired Jose Mourinho as manager and, within two seasons, they had back-to-back Premier League titles. They beat United for the signature of PSV Eindhoven’s rising star Arjen Robben, paying £12 million, which made quite a stir at the time but now seems like loose change in a transfer market that Abramovich supercharged and warped beyond recognition.
He would regularly pay over the odds for players, to the point that former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once accused Chelsea of “financial doping”. Belgium star Romelu Lukaku ended up being the most expensive purchase of the Abramovich era, arriving at Stamford Bridge on a deal worth £97 million last year. When it is all tallied up, his total wage bill for players will be an obscene £2 billion.
Turning Chelsea into a global powerhouse, almost overnight, ensured the stakes were raised around the Premier League. Soon enough, the mega rich from America and the Middle East started to circle, with once-middling outfits Manchester City and Newcastle now in the hands of some of the wealthiest businesses on the planet.
Chelsea after their first Champions League victory in 2012.Credit:Getty
Money didn’t always buy success. Mourinho, whose ego matched his employer’s billions, had an inevitable fallout with Abramovich and departed in 2007, only to return in 2013 and help guide them to another title, although by that point they had some serious rivals in the transfer market as billions flowed into the English game.
Behind the sport was something more sinister and his decision to sell comes amid unprecedented sanctions on Russia as it rains down rockets and missiles on Ukraine. The manner in which Abramovich had made his fortune, and whose back he scratched along the way, had already been heavily scrutinised.
The 55-year-old bought assets and companies from the former Soviet Union and sold them for eye-watering profits. One of them was oil company Sibneft, as well as his stake in Russian airline Aeroflot. Much of that money now resides in super yachts and London mansions; guaranteed safe investments with money washed squeaky clean.
British MP David Davis spoke in the House of Commons in January about a topic now under swift review in the UK; the use of its banks, finance houses and legal frameworks to house Russian money and investments.
“It is worth reminding people of Mr Abramovich’s background and the character of the man. We are speaking here of the man who manages President [Vladimir] Putin’s private economic affairs, according to the Spanish national intelligence committee,” Davis said.
“When he bought Chelsea FC, Abramovich was the governor of the Chukotka region of Russia. It was alleged by associates of his that the purchase was done at the behest of the Kremlin. As a result of the purchase, he now has enormous soft power and influence in the UK. I ask the House to come to its own conclusion about whether this man is acting at the behest of the Kremlin or Putin’s government.”
It’s tempting to think the departure of Abramovich from the Premier League might prompt more serious reflection about sports washing (the use of sport as a means of geopolitical gain) and the morals of who should be allowed to invest in clubs, leagues and tournaments.
But the game has long changed. Abramovich saw to that. The price tags from the bidding wars he helped begin are only going to increase. There are precious few who can afford to pay the bills, meaning the ethics of good global citizenry will again play second fiddle to the business of sport.
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