At some stage in our lives, we’ve probably all been told two topics never to enter discourse about in a pub were politics and religion. The latter is not something yours truly would be bothered about anyway. Simply because, if there really was a God, what is currently transpiring in the world wouldn’t be, would it? Unless the entity was a double agent…
Sport and politics is another cocktail probably best left on the shelf. But the politics of sport are often an equally poisonous cauldron. Remember the names Delaney and Hickey?
Now, natural inclination would be that Foreign Direct Investment would have to be a good thing for sport right? Yet for all the bundles of notes being infused into Manchester United, they remain stagnant at best.
Then you look at the catastrophes unleashed on Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool and Newcastle United by owners who either had no interest in football or no clue about it. Or worse still, both. Not to tar all those who have brought FDI into the Premiership, we must of course acknowledge that the successes garnered by Manchester City and Liverpool and Leicester City and, in particular, Chelsea since they were acquired by foreign owners.
However, it would hardly need the FBI to uncover that there may be colourful elements to how those bankrolling operations at both Stamford Bridge and Eastlands. Something which, until this week, a blind eye seems to have been rather conveniently turned. Indeed, you wonder whether there would have been much or ant action or reaction had Roman Abramovich not released a statement late on Saturday evening, handing over control of Chelsea to a charitable trust.
Part of me is wondering why he put out a press release at all. Nobody had been saying much or anything about him in the first couple of days since Vladimir Putin launched his tyranny on the people of Ukraine. By putting something into the press domain, Abramovich has surely only succeeded in drawing attention to himself and links between himself and Putin. Or more to the point, whether they exist or not.
If one wanted to know how much influence he who transformed Chelsea into kingpins of Europe holds, witness the manner in which Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol first put up what was clearly a tweet of his opinion – that the Russian sporting community needed to step up and denounce what their leader was doing. Yet, less than 12 hours later, the journalist posted again on Twitter, claiming Abramovich was a football fan with no connection to politics or Putin. Pressure much?
From a purely football perspective, Chelsea officials – including manager Thomas Tuchel – and fans will be more concerned by what their owner’s decision means regarding day to day life at the club. Is he taking a step from the club temporarily or moving sideways? In other words, staying in control, but out of the public eye, or is he preparing to stand down from the Bridge altogether?
The latter scenario hardly seems likely though. Tuchel’s team are the reigning European Champions, competing admirably in the Premiership and, though they were beaten in this evening’s Caraboa Cup final on penalties, they will probably still be guaranteed European football even if they don’t hold on to the prized item currently in their trophy cabinet.
For now though, the very stability of the club itself – on and off the field – will surely be the main priority.
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