Abramovich has a sulk.

[Bob Williams]

Because he does what ordinary foreign residents do: forgets to renew his visa. I wonder which minion’s head rolls for missing that? It’s a personal responsibility thing, Roman! Now, thanks to that and trying to kick out, on the cheap, locals who have been residents in the area of his planned £1Bn stadium for years, he is ” …unwilling to invest in a major project in a country where he is not allowed work. ”

http://tinyurl.com/y7pj5wbx

Well, if all you are investing in is the football club whose supporters consist of a large fringe of foul-mouthed, violent thugs whose presence is not wanted at other grounds by home supporters: then I don’t care if you sell the club. Apparently it’s all down to  ” the current unfavourable investment climate ”  That is probably Russian Oligarch for “Why do these old Brits want so much money for their old house? “

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[blacklion1725]

Come on Bob get off the fence mate ?

[Bob Williams]

blacklion1725 wrote:

Come on Bob get off the fence mate

Yes it was bit favourable to Chelsea and its owner, wasn’t it?? Sorry BL, I can do better!??

 

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Ed P]

The tit-for-tat expulsions of Embassy people resulted in the Moscow visa dept being almost totally denuded of staff*, so it may or may not have been a deliberate UK action. Be that as it may, he will not be either the first or last foreign footie owner to throw a wobbly and say FU. (Remember when Chainrai nearly scuppered Pompey?)

*With a few exceptions you normally have to apply for such visas in your country of residence rather than the country in which  you want to work/reside

[The Duke]

How good it would be if he dropped chelsea.

Jk aside, he won’t as he only bought it (and other up proper) originally so that he had assets the Russians couldn’t seize at their will.

It was a bit dicey early 2000s.. He won’t sell, but he has said he wants the club to support itself. That was the 7 year José plan, that didn’t work, we woudo be at year 5 now.

So I think he is stepping down bit by bit, I doubt they are going to be the big hitters they was ever again.

Funny enough I’d give the job to Big Sam. He has always wanted a big club, and he would take 7 year contract for peanuts. I think he would do well at a club with a decent budget.

If they bring in another ‘big name’ they will be back here in 2 years.

[Bob Williams]

Abramovich now says that, if he sells Chelsea, he wants back the £1.7Bn that he paid for it. Great expectations!

I can’t see him paying lots of money for big players any more, so they will gradually fade down the PL and hopefully  down to the lower leagues. No great loss, IMO. (See BL, said I would come off the fence, Lolz!)

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[blacklion1725]

As much as I despise that mob I do have to roll my eyes at who is and isn’t allowed to enter or stay in the country. Hamza for instance – incites hatred and murder, gets a free council house. This bloke ploughs in zillions and can’t get a Visa. Not saying he should or not –  just that given how porous our borders are it is is a little ironic that we are excluding someone who wants to contribute and seemingly welcome/tolerate those that want to hurt or bleed us.

Saying all of that if it ends up with Chelsea gettin ****ed I take it all back 🙂

 

[tadka]

Not sure Abramovich would want a citizenship. I heard of a story of two Russian bankers who escaped to GB with loads of stolen money. The UK refused to send them back to RU and changed the law to “if you can’t prove you got your money legally government takes it” and of course there money were taken from them. I doubt Abramovich could prove he’s got his money legally.

[Richard]

There does appear to be something capricious about the way that the unfolding use of the laws is being interpreted, am I the only one to smell a rat? The Windrush people have garnered headlines yet other cases are highlighting the way mindless, (or malevolent?) jobsworths are operating, are they bloody minded or trying to make political headlines?

One Danish woman who had been here for a very long time with the right of abode yada, yada, yada and had ‘hidden’ herself to the extent of having been the local mayor was told she did not have the one bit of paper that the jobsworth needed to prove her residency – nothing else would do.

Frankly my interest in football is close to zero and I suspect that is the case for many who have seen it only as a money vehicle, (Abramovich?) so I will not comment on the football industry side of the issues. However, the wrangling over this one person who did not realise some rules existed is one for spectators only. I agree with tadka’s points. This could become interesting, popcorn please, the world has now changed.

When lived in ‘foreign’ countries, work permits and residents permits were considered vital and had to be renewed according to the local rules. Note I never did have a right to live there as such, only a license to do so while the permits allowed.

[Bob Williams]

Richard, I understand your lack of interest in football, shared by a few other forumites. However, it remains the most popular spectator and participant sport in the UK, consequently it means a great deal to those of us who have followed and/or played it for years through thick and thin times with our respective clubs. In my case, as a Nottingham Forest supporter, that is thin but with increasing hope for better times, atm. We supporters are always hopeful.? Everyone has had a lifelong interest in something, whether entertainment, arts or sport, whatever.

The Roman Abramovich conundrum is created by his entrance to the UK and Chelsea with a big wodge of cash, which he had made from devious means inside Russia, and needed somewhere to stash some of it. Although to be fair, he struggled in his early businesses selling dolls, until he became a friend of Boris Yeltsin, the alcoholic Russian president who opened the doors for all the crooks who became Oligarchs. That friendship, and his dealings in opposition to Putin’s own crooked crew, saw him perceived as an enemy by Putin: not a safe situation. So Roman took his billions and his yacht(s) and set out to find a safe haven for himself and his money. That haven does not look so safe anymore. IMO – and it is only MO – it appears that some deal has been done behind the new Curtain, to gradually eject him. I also understand that his religious beliefs have led to Israel offering a haven. Not surprising at all when one thinks about it: there is a large expat Russian community within Israel. There is also space for his yachts in either of the 4 harbours of Ashkelon, Ashod, Hadera or Haifa.

There is nothing underhand about the way some wealthy foreigners are now being chased by HMRC and other agencies for their (often) ill-gotten gains. The underhand part has existed for too long, without the UK being in receipt of sufficient taxation and other benefits. Now HMRC and other public agencies are being instructed to go after these people. This is a government which knows that post-Brexit, we will need support for Treasury funds. Most of the really wealthy London residences are owned by foreigners: that is not xenophobia, it is fact. This has a knock-on effect for ordinary London workers, who have to live well outside where most work and pay the heavy commuter price for that.

Not that the Russian oligarchs are doing anything different than the English sea captains and merchants in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, who first created the East India Company and thus afterwards, the British Empire, which stole from, enslaved and took whatever it wished, from the peoples it conquered. History repeats itself.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

Bob, I think you may have missed the point I was making, which may well parallel the thoughts of others. I suspect that  Abramovich had no more than a very passing interest in the football itself, only an interest in its industry. He really could have been ‘investing’ in cat flaps for all the difference it would have made to him. His activity might well have been purely cynical trading on the very point you put forward, ‘However, it remains the most popular spectator and participant sport in the UK’, perhaps he hoped to buy brownie points? Though I do venture to suggest that from comments I have heard, the industry is fighting hard to price itself out of the reach of most of those who were interested but that is outside the scope of my position. I also questioned if his cooling interest in the club is matched by an interest in other pastures. This may well explain his failure to follow up on his licenses to remain. The fact that Putin is flexing more hostile activities could also be a factor. Perhaps Abramovich feels more confident in Mosad and might hope that any soiled cash might get washed passing through the Mediterranean?

[Bob Williams]

Good points Richard, and your views about the ‘pricing out’ of some from premier League football is valid. However, it has the highest attendance figures across worldwide TV audiences, which brings the money rolling into the Murkydog coffers, to be shelled out into the bulging wallets of the highest paid (mostly foreign import) players. Not to mention the top half-dozen (mostly foreign-owned) wealthy clubs, which can afford the exorbitant wages of these players, whilst the rest scratch around for second and third rate sweepings.The only saving graces are those clubs like my own Forest, who invest in Academies for mostly local young players, some spotted from the ages of 10, not always boys: I have a Gt-GT -niece playing now for Forest Juniors and doing well. The point about lower-club academies, is that it takes extreme dedication and sacrifice, for young players to make it in the game and many fall by the wayside, if early promise is not fulfilled. On the other hand, young players who do make the grade, are often snapped up by the rich clubs, which has a negative and positive aspect: the negative is losing a player who could bring success to the club. The positive is the funds that transfer money can bring to the club’s economy. It is not realised by most people, how hard each player has to work, to get to the top. Or what the price of failure can be.

Want to know what may surprise? The second highest worldwide audiences are for the English Championship games, the second tier behind Premier League. A long way behind, is the Deutsche Bündesliga, the German football league.

You are correct in the fact that Abramovich used Chelsea as an ‘intro’ to the UK, supported at the time by weak or no checks and balances. That opened the floodgates for foreign ownership. IMO he may now become a whipping boy for the whole issue.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

I also made the point that weak or not at all efforts were made on, such issues as money laundering, immigration status and records keeping. All are now bring the jobsworths out in droves. The Windrush affair is highlighting only one angle from a narrow point of view, the Danish lady suggests that far from being targetted the sloppy way that works has been done may well have not been an accident. She had an evidence trail a mile wide but they chose not to see it until their noses were rubbed in the mess. Others may not have the same clout – and that is the issue with the Windrush cohort, though it should be said that many were not actually on the Windrush, anyone before 1979 is easily exposed and many no doubt arrived from different locations after that date.

If football were to become, ‘just the game once more‘ I would be fine with that, it is the associated stench of shady money that adds to the taint. Your points and issues are well meant and yes the good aspects could/should still exist without the fraud masters so well represented by the likes of FIFA.

[Bob Williams]

The Windrush affair has aspects that worried me and the Trinidadian-born mate that I have known for many years, Richard. In the village where I grew up, he was the first black miner to work at the local pit. He was the eldest of a family that eventually numbered five children, all his siblings being born in the UK. One morning he rose for work, to find that his parents and siblings had all gone to Trinidad and left him in an NCB house that he was not allowed to keep without a family. He was desperate and about to be evicted, but he had many friends and the village rallied round, especially myself and seven other mates who usually formed our group of young pals. I found him lodgings with a widowed lady whose son had been a schoolmate and who was happy to see it happen, as he now lived and worked many miles away and knew his mum would be fine. For the rest of his life, my black mate lived, married and worked in the village and the village to this day continues to care about him. He recently came off his old BSA 650 and was taken to hospital by locals, then cared for by neighbours. He tells me he is recovering well, to which I asked why at 73, he is riding a 650 BSA? His answer is typical: ‘Because it’s there, mate!”

The widowed lady died, leaving the house to him and his family. I was at her funeral, where he and his family were obviously heartbroken to lose a substitute but real mum, mum-in-law and grandma. He was inconsolable, until I reminded him how much he and his family had cared for their ‘mum’ in her last years.

The problem he had concerning the Windrush affair, was that his siblings could, and did, return to the UK whenever they wished, but he was born in Trinidad and has been very worried about the whole situation. Then a village friend contacted a solicitor on his behalf and it now appears to be a battle won. As he has always said, where else would he feel at home? It is his home, he knows nowhere else as home, he speaks with my own broad Nottinghamshire accent and he is among friends and family who are the same and who count him as a good man and one of their own.

What a farrago of nonsense and political chicanery, this whole immigration policy has become. There are Eastern European gangsters and drug runners, middle eastern paedophiles and radical terrorists abusing children and killing people in this country, but a man like my mate has all the hassle of worrying if he is to be deported to a country he does not know and has no wish to know. I am sorry about the rant, but it annoys me intensely.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

Bob, I think we may put this one to bed for the moment, you sum it up very well; ‘What a farrago of nonsense and political chicanery, this whole immigration policy has become.’  That was my point very exactly, whenever rules are put in place there is always some clown who never follows the caveat about the instruction of fools and the guidance of wise folk. Recently the Home Office folk  have been of the cloth eared and sawdust head variety, forget ED’s attempt at modern argot.

[Ed P]

A number of the high profile Arab investors saw it as a  way of buying a funk hole as well as giving them some return on investment. As the funk holes become less attractive I would expect them to try and sell out.

Others, especially the US investors are just asset strippers who will strip out anything that isn’t nailed down and put the club in debt to them at the same time. I will not name names but anyone with a vague interest in footie will know the names of some of these villains.

[Author]

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