Chelsea owner Roman Abramavich today halted the £1billion redevelopment of Stamford Bridge days after he was effectively banned from Britain until he can show his money is clean.
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The Russian billionaire has not had his visa renewed forcing him to seek Israeli citizenship to regain entry to the country after Whitehall launched a ‘war’ on oligarchs following the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Mr Abramovich’s extraordinary wealth has transformed Chelsea’s fortunes on and off the the pitch and earned the former Premier League and Champions League champions the nickname ‘Chelski’ because of its Russian links.
But the owner is said to have personally mothballed plans to upgrade its stadium ‘with immediate effect’ because he is ‘unwilling to invest over £1billion into a country where he is not permitted to work’, according to The Times.
Officially Chelsea has said its 60,000-seat arena was put on hold ‘due to the current unfavourable investment climate’ rather than a tit-for-tat row between the owner and the UK Government.
Experts have suggested that pulling his investment could be the ultimate powerplay with the Home Office over his visa – but others say the redevelopment just doesn’t stack up financially because it will cost £1billion to add just 19,000 new seats.
Mr Abramovich is still waiting for his ‘golden visa’, granted to foreigners who invest more than £2million in Britain every year.
Until his is renewed he cannot work for Chelsea and this week it emerged he will officially move to Tel Aviv to restore his access to the UK.
Relations between Moscow and London have been strained since former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury in March.
Britain blamed the attack on Russia but the Kremlin denied any involvement.
As his father’s family were Jewish, Mr Abramovich is entitled to live in Israel – and an Israeli passport would restore his access to Britain, as citizens can enter the UK without a visa.
Local news sites in Israel reported that Mr Abramovich had flown into Tel Aviv this week and received documents confirming his status as an Israeli citizen.
The Times of Israel said that Israel’s interior ministry had confirmed the development.
Israel grants citizenship to any Jew wishing to move there and a passport can be issued immediately.
Israeli passport holders can enter Britain without a visa for short stays although they would still require visas to work here.
Culled from Daily Mail
