Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich held secret investments in rival players: Report

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is one of the wealthiest football club owners in the world and has courted controversy for a number of off-field issues over the years. Now, the Chelsea owner finds himself in a new dispute, with an investigation suggesting that the 53-year-old secretly held stakes in players not part of the Blues squad. The investigation is likely to draw further scrutiny on the Roman Abramovich transfers, considering the Chelsea owner has already bankrolled £230 million worth of moves this summer. 

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Roman Abramovich net worth: Chelsea owner caught in fresh storm over third-party ownership 

In an investigation called the 'FinCEN Files' by BBC Panorama, it has come to light that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is secretly behind an offshore business called Leiston Holdings. The company is known to own stakes in footballers overseas through third-party ownership (TPO). TPO enables investors to buy a share of a footballer's future transfer value from cash-strapped clubs.

The report states that Andre Carillo was among the players whose rights were held by Leiston and featured in two Champions League group games against Chelsea in 2014. TPO courted controversy in England after the loan moves of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to West Ham, and the practice was subsequently banned in 2008. TPO continued full-fledged abroad, before FIFA announced a blanket ban in 2015 after Carillo's appearances vs Chelsea. 

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Roman Abramovich-owned Leiston held stakes in two other Sporting players, Gael Etock and Valentin Viola, but the Chelsea owner's spokesperson denied any wrongdoing. She said that while the transactions might be confidential, they do not mean that they were unlawful or otherwise in breach of then-applicable rules or regulations. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's spokeswoman further asserted that the allegations relate to the period before FIFA changed their laws and they remain entirely unaware of the situation. 

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In 2018, German website Der Spiegel revealed that Leiston Holdings served as an investment vehicle for TPO as part of the Football Leaks investigation. BBC Panorama's study shows that Roman Abramovich funded the company with a staggering $156 million of his own money while Chelsea had the first option on signing some of Leiston's players. The investigation on the Chelsea owner is likely to draw attention to the Roman Abramovich transfers, with the 43-year-old having spent more than £2 billion since buying the Stamford Bridge outfit in 2003. 

Roman Abramovich net worth: How much does the Chelsea owner earn?

According to Forbes, the Roman Abramovich net worth can be estimated at a whopping $12.4 billion. The Russian billionaire owns stakes in steel giant Evraz, Norilsk Nickel and Chelsea. The Chelsea owner owns the world's second-largest yacht, 533-foot Eclipse, bought for nearly $400 million in 2010, while he transferred more than $90 million worth of property in New York to ex-wife Dasha Zhukov's name. Since Abramovich bought Chelsea for $175 million in 2003, the Blues have won five Premier League titles and one Champions League in 2012 under his ownership.

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DISCLAIMER: The Roman Abramovich net worth information is sourced from various websites/media reports. This website does not guarantee 100% accuracy of the Roman Abramovich net worth figure.

(Image Courtesy: AP)