March 12, (THEWILL) – A turbulent week for the current UEFA Champions League holders, Chelsea, took a further turn for the worse with the revelation that the club’s bank accounts have been temporarily frozen by Barclays.
As THEWILL reported previously, on Thursday, the Blues were informed that the UK government had slapped penalties on owner, Roman Abramovich and placed their operations under a licence that limited their capacity to function.
The government said Chelsea could keep playing football, and a spokesperson for Prime Minister, David Cameron, indicated on Friday that Downing Street was looking into relaxing limitations to make day-to-day operations easier.
However, the news that their bank accounts had been stopped by Barclays emerged soon after. The bank stated that it made the decision because it wanted more time to evaluate the club’s licence from the UK government.
Chelsea, on the other hand, is hopeful that the freezing of their bank accounts will be lifted soon. While the news of the bank accounts being frozen has delivered the club another setback, the club has indicated that it is still in talks with the government.
The Blues authorities have put out a doomsday scenario in these talks, in which the club could go bankrupt if the terms of the licence under which they now operate are not modified.
Meanwhile, Chelsea defeated Norwich City on Thursday evening, putting all of these concerns aside to concentrate on their league success. On Sunday, Thomas Tuchel and his team will face a resurgent Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
