A lawsuit against former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich threatens the British government to make sure that the proceeds from the club’s sale will head to Ukraine.

“The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of the Chelsea football team available for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, after the illegal, full -scale invasion of Russia,” British Chancellor Rachel Redsel Raysel Redsel Redsel Reds.

The £ 2.5 billion gathered from the sale of the club remained frozen in a bank account in the United Kingdom since Abramovic sold the team to a US led in May 2022.

While the United Kingdom insisted that money would have to support humanitarian efforts within Ukraine, Abramovic implied that they would be used to help “all the victims of the war in Ukraine”, including those in Russia.

“We are deeply disappointed that it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the issue with Mr Abramovich so far,” the statement said. “While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue it through the courts, if necessary, to ensure that people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from this revenue as soon as possible.”

Following Russia’s total invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Abramovic was granted a special permit to sell Chelsea, which he had initially bought in the summer of 2003, provided he could prove that they would not benefit financially from the transaction.

In December 2023, Abramovich questioned the EU’s sanctions against him, demanding 1m euros to repair the damage suffered by his reputation. The Court of Justice of the European Union (WEU) rejected the claims of compensation, considering that sanctions were not “unjustified and disproportionate violation of its fundamental rights”.