Chelsea’s bank account and credit cards have been temporarily suspended by Barclays, following the UK sanctions on the club’s owner Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
The bank premised the action on the need to assess the licence which Chelsea will be given by UK government to continue football-related activities.
Chelsea, who play Newcastle in a home game on Sunday, are hopeful the suspension will be lifted shortly, SkyNews reported.
Barclays action comes after Russian-Israeli owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government over his alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Mr Abramovich had “his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions” imposed on him.
The sanctions are intended to stop the 55-year-old billionaire from making any money in the UK, but the government has granted the west London club a special licence to allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
However, Chelsea have been blocked from selling merchandise or signing players, they cannot offer new contracts to players or staff, conduct any transfer business or sell new tickets to matches as things stand.
And the mobile phone network, Three, has suspended its sponsorship deal.
Mr Abramovich had been planning to sell the club, with profits he said going to victims of the Ukraine war, but the sale remains technically on hold for now.
However, the Treasury could issue a new licence to allow a deal to go through – provided Mr Abramovich receives no benefit.
