March 2024
In March 2022, Roman Abramovich pledged to sell Chelsea Football Club and donate the £2.5 billion to support victims of the war in Ukraine. However, two years on, the sale has hit a stalemate and no money has been delivered to victims of the conflict.
The sale proceeds of Chelsea FC represent nearly seven times the value of humanitarian assistance the UK has pledged since the invasion in 2022.
The stalemate undermines remarks made by the Foreign Secretary David Cameron in January of this year in Davos on the confiscation of Russian assets, where he stated, “[a]t the end of the day, Russia is going to have to pay reparations for its illegal invasion, so why not spend some of the money now, rather than wait till the war is over and have all the legal wrangling about reparations.”
The funds have the potential to dramatically improve the situation for victims and survivors and uphold their right to reparation, entrenched in international human rights and international humanitarian law.
The UK Government must act swiftly to release the sale proceeds of Chelsea FC and ensure that a substantial percentage of the funds are used to fund reparation to victims of the conflict.