'What should fans do if their club is bought by dodgy foreign money?'
14 March 2022, 13:45
'Why should ordinary football fans be punished for the sins of their owners?'
James O'Brien wonders whether football fans should be expected to do anything 'a wrong'un' buys their club.
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"Why should ordinary football fans be punished for the sins of their owners?" James O'Brien asked, after LBC's Charlotte Lynch spoke to Chelsea fans outside Stamford Bridge on Sunday as the club is placed under sanctions.
One fan in particular drew James' attention, who asked why Chelsea fans should "suffer" for what is happening in Ukraine.
Roman Abramovich has been placed under sanction by the British government for his links with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The move has meant that Chelsea fans cannot see their team play for the foreseeable future, and throws the future of some of the club's star players into disarray.
Read more: Chelsea's bank account frozen by Barclays as Abramovich sanctions leave club in turmoil
"We all feel bad for the Ukrainian people, of course we do, but why should we have to suffer when it's nothing to do with us?"
— LBC (@LBC) March 13, 2022
Chelsea fans fume to @charlotterlynch about the Abramovich sanctions pic.twitter.com/FDuBF10AOd
James O'Brien questions the 'wilful myopia' of Chelsea fans.
Read more: Riot police enter £25m London mansion of Russian oligarch after squatters stage protest
Read more: Camilla Tominey moved by boy ready to 'put Nerf guns away' and house a Ukrainian refugee
James backed up the concerns of the particular fan, extending the question to Newcastle United, who have links to Saudi Arabia, who executed 81 people over the weekend.
He wondered what indeed could a fan do "if a wrong'un buys your football club."
"Whether it's dodgy because it's soaked in the blood of human rights victims or whether it's dodgy because it's being ripped off of the Russian people", James asked "what should ordinary football fans do if their club is bought by dodgy foreign money?" Before asking "why should they do anything?"
"Why should Chelsea fans be bearing the brunt of oligarch transgressions when Boris Johnson's put one in the house of Lords and David Cameron took 200 grand off another one for a game of bloody tennis?!"
