Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich forced to seek emergency loan from wealthy friends

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is reportedly feeling the pinch from the sanctions that he is personally facing amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The high-profile Russian oligarch is rumoured to be seeking emergency loans from wealthy friends in order to "stay afloat" while his assets are frozen.

Abramovich is only one of the many Russian individuals and companies that have been affected by the sanctions imposed by Western nations on those believed to have close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The prolific businessman has vehemently denied these ties as well as any involvement in the Russian government's questionable actions in the past month in Ukraine. He has also denied being part of corrupt business practices believed to be proliferating in Russia.

Despite wiping his hands clean, he has not escaped the sanctions imposed by the UK government and other nations that are united in condemning Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Apart from being forced to put Chelsea FC up for sale, Abramovich is now unable to touch many of his known assets.

Being a billionaire means one needs to maintain a sizable staff and expenses are easily racked up in order to put all of his affairs in order on a daily basis. According to Marca, Abramovich racks up a bill of about £600,000 a week to pay all his staff and maintain his lifestyle. In order to keep up with the expenses, the Russian is reportedly approaching a number of his wealthy friends seeking an emergency load of around one million pounds each.

Even if the sale of Chelsea pushes through soon for an estimated price of around £3 billion, Abramovich will not have access to those funds for personal use. The UK Parliament had previously agreed to allow the sale to help the club continue to function, but the proceeds will likely be diverted to the programmes meant to help displaced Ukrainian families.

Abramovich has recently been involved in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, where he is said to have been the victim of a mild poisoning attack. As such, he made it clear that while denying ties, he is in fact an influential figure within the Russian government.

That connection is now reportedly keeping his "friends" from openly helping out with a loan, even though it might be a relatively small amount for them and they know he has the means to pay. The fact is, many of these wealthy families and individuals would not want to be accused of aiding the Russian in case he is embroiled in deeper trouble.

The Rothschild family as well as several celebrities have reportedly been approached, but it has not been confirmed if anyone has agreed to any loan arrangements as of now.