Following the sanctions set out on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government, Chelsea FC should be nationalised.
This is the view of Robert Shrimsley, the Financial Times UK Chief Political Commentator and UK Editor.
Earlier today, Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who owns Chelsea FC, had sanctions imposed on him. The sanctions mean he is no longer able to sell the club to another party, while the club have simultaneously had a number of restrictions imposed on its operations.
These include the freezing of commercial activity and freezing of transfer business on both the buying and selling fronts.
The club can also not sign players up to new deals, meaning anyone not currently signed on past this summer is under serious threat of being allowed to leave as a free agent.
Shrimsley makes the case that because of the sanctions and the uncertainty over the clubs immediate future, the government should step in and intervene in order to secure the future of one of Britain’s most prominent footballing institutions.
However, as he goes on to explain in his piece, there are a number of drawbacks to such a decision, such as the frustrating levels of bureaucracy which could be faced and the uncertainty surrounding an ever changing political power dynamic in parliament.