Roman Abramovich hands over 'stewardship and care' of Chelsea to club's charitable foundation

Roman Abramovich has handed over the stewardship and care of Chelsea to the "trustees of Chelsea's charitable foundation".

Abramovich's position as Chelsea owner has come under scrutiny this week following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A statement released by Chelsea read:

"During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s Charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.

"I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans."

John Devine, Paul Ramos, Piara Powar, Emma Hayes, Sir Hugh Robertson and Bruce Buck are among the Chelsea FC Foundation trustees, according to Sky.

The decision comes less than 24 hours before Chelsea take on Liverpool in the League Cup final. And Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said in his pre-final press conference that the situation was worrying.

“I would love to take my right not to comment on this until there is a decision made,” he began. “But we are aware of it and it’s distracting us, it’s worrying us. To a certain degree I can understand the opinions and the critical opinions towards the club, towards us who represent that club. I can understand that and we cannot fully free ourselves from it.

“Maybe people understand that me as a coach or the players, we don’t have the insight what is really going on. At the moment we don’t feel responsible for all this. We feel that it is horrible and there can be no doubt about it. War in Europe was unthinkable for me for a long period. The impact is clear and the discussions have an impact. Let’s be a bit more patient and understand what the measurements will be and then we have to maybe deal with it.”

---

The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+