The Premier League club, Chelsea FC is in all sorts of trouble following the UK government’s sanctions on the owner, Roman Abramovich for alleged ties with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In the previous week on Saturday, the English top-flight’s board also disqualified Abramovich from serving as the director of the club. The UK government amended the details of the club’s general license by imposing some critical sanctions.
As part of the sanctions, the club is prohibited from renewing player contracts, selling new match tickets or spending more than £20,000 on match travel. Chelsea witnessed the consequences of the sanctions when the leading sponsors of the club started terminating their associations.
The telecommunications company, Three cut off its £40 million-a-year deal ($52.4 million) with Chelsea with immediate effect. In this agreement, Three’s logo was featured on the players’ jerseys.
The South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer, Hyundai also terminated its sponsorship agreement with the west London club earlier this week. Hyundai has been associated with Chelsea since 2018. The brand’s logo used to appear on the club’s shirts in this partnership.
The latest addition to the list is the Swiss-Italian global cruise line, MSC Cruises, the firm unveiled that it is temporarily withdrawing marketing activities with Chelsea.
The Champions League winner’s biggest sponsor, Nike remains committed to its collaboration with the club. The German company had signed a 15-year deal worth 900 million pounds in 2016.
The training kit sponsor, Trivago has decided to stand by Chelsea as well but hopes for a change in ownership as soon as possible.