Chelsea put their off-pitch worries to one side as they beat a plucky Norwich City side 3-1 to consolidate third place in the Premier League at Carrow Road on Thursday, March 10. The players at Chelsea, whose Russian owner Roman Abramovich has been placed under sanctions by the British government, did not appear to let the controversy affect them as they swept aside struggling Norwich who look headed for relegation. Chelsea took the lead after three minutes with a Trevoh Chalobah header and soon doubled the advantage when Mason Mount fired home before Kai Havertz wrapped up the win near the end. Norwich had pulled a goal back with a Teemu Pukki penalty. Chelsea, whose fans sang Abramovich’s name throughout the match, are on 56 points from 27 games and moved eight points clear of Arsenal, who are fourth but have two games in hand. Norwich stayed bottom on 17 points.

Chelsea future uncertain after sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich

European champions Chelsea are now effectively under the control of the British government after Russian owner Roman Abramovich was placed under sanctions on Thursday. Abramovich, who had been under scrutiny following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, had announced he was selling the Premier League club last week. Yet that process is now on hold, leaving the club, ranked by Forbes as the seventh most valuable in world soccer at $3.2 billion, in a state of limbo. The Russian bought the West London team in 2003 for a reported 140 million pounds ($184 million) and his investment contributed hugely to the most successful era in the team’s history as they won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the Champions League twice. His purchase of the club helped transform the landscape of English football with Chelsea breaking the stranglehold of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Abramovich had funded Chelsea via 1.5 billion pounds in total loans through Fordstam Limited, the entity through which he owns the club. In their most recent accounts in December, Chelsea who reported losses of 145.6 million pounds, said they were “reliant on Fordstam Limited for its continued financial support”.