Officials are demanding “watertight” legal guarantees from Roman Abramovich that he will not lay claim to a £1.6bn chunk of proceeds from the £4.25bn sale of Chelsea FC.
While the sale appears to be on the verge of being approved, concern centres around a loan made to the club by Camberley International Investments, which the sanctioned Russian oligarch could insist is repaid at some point in the future.
Abramovich had said all proceeds from the sale would go to charity, but the UK government fears a “gentlemen’s agreement” would not be enough to prevent him from claiming some of the cash at a later date.
