Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will share his side of the story about the club’s sale in a new book set to be released this summer. The book follows his first interview in four years.
Abramovich, who is still under UK government sanctions due to his alleged ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, gave a rare two-part interview discussing the £2.5 billion sale of Chelsea to American group Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. The sale happened in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The interviews were conducted in Abu Dhabi in January and earlier in Istanbul. They are expected to cover Abramovich’s early days at Chelsea, including his 2004 takeover, the impact of sanctions, his involvement in past peace talks, and even the reported poisoning incident he suffered in March 2022.
His last interview before this was with Forbes in March 2021. Apart from a brief comment about Frank Lampard’s sacking that year and statements supporting Chelsea’s “Say No to Anti-Semitism” campaign, Abramovich hadn’t spoken publicly since 2006.
The book, titled Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC, is written by journalist Nick Purewal. It will reveal more details about the fast-paced 95-day sale process, which was overseen by Raine Bank under the guidance of the UK government. It will be published by Biteback Publishing.
Meanwhile, the funds from the Chelsea sale are still held in a frozen bank account, and the club, under new American ownership, is working hard to qualify for the Champions League and win a major trophy.
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