Sanctioned

The sale of Chelsea Football Club in 2022 wasone of the highest-profile and most controversial sports transactions of alltime. In the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what unfolded after RomanAbramovich was forced to put his beloved club up for sale would change Englishfootball for ever. Under the threat of bankruptcy and ruin, Chelsea pulled offa complex transaction in three tense and troubling months – a quarter of the timemany analysts would normally set aside for such a deal. Sanctioned isthe definitive account of this unique period.

Through unprecedented access to Abramovich himselfand key figures from Chelsea’s new ownership, as well as further interviewswith a star-studded footballing cast, Nick Purewal unfolds a wide-ranging taleof political sanctions, hushed negotiations and Cold War-style geopolitics, alltold in vivid, propulsive prose against a backdrop of war on the edge ofEurope.

From the club’s owners to its staff, players andsupporters, via UK government intervention, dramatic peace talks and even a foul-playpoisoning episode, Sanctioned chronicles ninety-five extraordinary daysin English football.