© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday, UEFA announced that London and Moscow could be expelled from the Champions League tournament if it is found that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is also the owner of a Russian club.
This issue arose because Abramovich is the largest shareholder of the Russian oil company "Sibneft". This company is the main sponsor of CSKA.
If both of these clubs are placed in the same Champions League group, UEFA stated that two clubs owned by the same owner cannot play in the final tournament.
UEFA representative William Gaillard stated that they only conducted a superficial check to ensure that no one controls more than 51 percent of the shares of both clubs. Uncertainties regarding Chelsea and CSKA will now be examined more closely.
Chelsea stated that UEFA and the clubs participating in the Champions League should not worry about Abramovich's ties to CSKA.
"The situation is very simple," said Chelsea representatives. "Mr. Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea FC, while 'Sibneft,' in which he is just one of the shareholders, is the main sponsor of CSKA. Abramovich has no financial or other dealings with CSKA itself."
Meanwhile, UEFA believes that unraveling the "Russian business subtleties" will not be easy. However, if there are any doubts, neither Chelsea nor CSKA will be able to play in the Champions League. "Our rules are very clear - if one person controls more than 51 percent of the shares of both clubs, these clubs cannot compete in the tournament," said V. Gaillard.
CSKA president Yevgeny Giner is a close friend of Abramovich, the former owner of Sibneft, and still a significant shareholder in the company. In March, Abramovich watched CSKA matches twice from Giner's VIP box.
Sibneft, the fifth largest oil company in Russia, promised to give CSKA £10 million annually until 2006.
Over the past two years, Giner has spent a lot of money on the club's renovations. CSKA broke the Russian player purchase record twice - acquiring J. Jarosik from Sparta Prague (£1.5 million) and I. Olic from Dinamo Zagreb (£3 million). This year, the Russian champions acquired S. Ignashevich, Y. Aldonin, and Brazilian D. Carvalho.
The Champions League matches begin on September 14. According to the schedule, Chelsea and CSKA are supposed to meet on October 20 in London and on November 2 in Moscow.
