Chelsea has published the amount of its financial loss for last season. The sanctions imposed on Abramovich are to blame, the club says

A few hours ago, the London big club officially published its financial loss suffered in the 2021/22 season, which amounts to £121.3 million, and as the club writes on its website, it is mainly due to the economic sanctions imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich.

The Russian billionaire was placed on the British sanctions list because of his links to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin. However, he sold Chelsea in May last year and its current owner is a consortium led by American Todd Boehly.

As a result of the sanctions, the club has had to operate under the restrictions of a special licence issued by the UK government. It should be noted that these restrictions were in place until 30 May, i.e. before the Stamford Bridge club was taken over by the new aforementioned owner.

During this period, the club was restricted from selling tickets and season tickets, selling club merchandise, seeking new sponsors or signing player contracts. Moreover, in an official statement on Monday, Chelsea said that this will affect the club in the following years.

The current 10th Premier League team also said that despite the sanctions, financial turnover increased to £481.3 million from £434.9 million the previous year.

The London-based outfit also saw its commercial revenue increase, specifically to a figure of £177.1 million. The losses were attributed to increased operating costs, including match and non-match activity costs.

It is also very important to note that these financial results do not capture Chelsea’s acquisitions in the summer of 2022 and in January 2023, when they reportedly spent approximately £600 million on new players.

In terms of player transfers for the 2021/22 season, the club invested £118 million in the playing squad. However, a profit of £123 million was made from the sale of players Tammy Abraham, Marco Guehi, Fikayo Tomori and Kurt Zouma.

Finally, the club added in its statement that despite the financial loss and operational problems caused by sanctions, the club continues to comply with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations.

Sources: Chelsea FC, Premier League