Roman Abramovich sanctioned by European Union with Chelsea's Champions League tie in Lille set to go ahead

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Roman Abramovich.

The EU included the Russian billionaire in its updated list of people facing travel and asset freezes due to his close ties to Putin.

As it stands, the second leg of the last-16 of the European soccer competition will go ahead as planned on Wednesday.

The statement read: "UEFA is committed to always implementing relevant EU and international sanctions." The current case is assessed in the context of the licence issued in the UK, which allows the club to continue with minimum football activity, but with a safeguard that no financial gain will result for Mr.Abramovich.

We will work with the EU and relevant member states to ensure we have full clarity and remain in lockstep with all relevant and applicable measures.

As a result of widespread criticism, the FA Cup quarter-finals will be played behind closed doors.

The statement was released because they only sold 650 tickets out of their initial away allocation of 4,620, meaning they were at a sporting disadvantage and that a behind-closed-doors game would be the best way to go.

The UK government said there was no reason why the match should be played without fans.

But hours later, the request was withdrawn. After constructive talks between the FA and the club, the club has agreed to remove their request for the tie to be played behind closed doors.

For a more accessible video player, please use the chrome browser.

The FA is in talks with the Government and the league to find a solution that will allow both fans of the club to attend games and away games at the same time.

The government may amend its licence to allow the sale of tickets if Roman Abramovich does not profit from the move, according to the minister.

The measures we have taken and the licence we have given to Chelsea is to stop them going out of business. We want the sanctions to hit those we intend to hit and not others, so we are talking to the fans and the club to see if we can allow more ticket sales.

For a more accessible video player, please use the chrome browser.

We want to make sure the sanctions hit those we intend to hit and there is minimal impact elsewhere. As a result, there will be a lot of hassle. We would change the licence to allow the sale of the club and that would be important for the club.

The new independent panel will not be in place before the sale of Chelsea, as the Premier League revealed on Tuesday.

Why Chelsea tried to have Boro game behind closed doors

For a more accessible video player, please use the chrome browser.

Sky Sports News has a chief reporter.

A PR own goal? That is a good way of saying it. It was such a bad move on the part of the club that even their own fans released a statement asking for the request to be withdrawn.

It is ridiculous for the world champion, the European champion, to be saying that playing a Championship side on Saturday is unfair when they only have 600 fans. It's ridiculous for them to be doing that. They were condemned for that all day.

There are two things I would say from the point of view of the person. They want to be able to follow their team and support them on Saturday and they need to defend their supporters.

The bigger picture is that from the beginning, there was no chance this game would be played behind closed doors, and that is why they want to put as much pressure as possible on the government to relax.

Who is in the running to buy Chelsea?

• London-based luxury property developer and Chelsea supporter Nick Candy is putting together a consortium to buy the club. Candy wants to have a fan representative on the board and he is willing to put money into the club as soon as possible to meet short-term financing needs.
• Todd Boehly, Hangjorg Wyss and Jonathan Goldstein form a leading consortium which has made offer in the region of £2 billion. LA Dodgers part-owner Boehly tried to buy Chelsea in a £2.2 billion deal three years ago with Jonathan Goldstein. They have now teamed up with US-based Swiss billionaire Wyss. Goldstein is a property investor and Tottenham fan.
• Former British Airways and Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton is in talks about forming a consortium to buy the club. Lifelong Chelsea supporter who played a key role when Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool in 2010.
• New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is not commenting on reports he is considering making a bid. He is a billionaire philantrophist and heir of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company. Johnson was appointed US ambassador to the UK by Donald Trump in June 2017.
• Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris already co-owns a minority stake in Crystal Palace which he would need to sell if he buys Chelsea.
• RedBird Capital Partners US private equity firm who last April paid £533m for an 11 per cent stake in Liverpool owners Fenway Sport Group. Premier League rules would prevent them owning another club.
• Vivek Ranadive is a computer software billionaire and owner of NBA side Sacramento Kings is interested in bidding for Chelsea.
• Turkish businessman Muhsin Bayrak said he was confident of agreeing a deal to buy Chelsea by the end of last week.
• MMA fighter and Manchester United supporter Conor McGregor has claimed on social media that he is offering £1.5 billion for Chelsea. His management company Paradigm Sports are working with McGregor Sports & Entertainment and Empowerment IP Capital on a bid.
• One of the UK’s richest men Jim Ratcliffe has looked at Chelsea but believes Premier League clubs are overpriced. His Ineos Football Group now own Nice and FC Lausanne. Ruled out bidding earlier this month but as a Chelsea supporter there is an outside chance he may be tempted to reconsider.

A lot of people will say that Abramovich is not free. He is not allowed to do business in the UK. He cannot pay his telephone bill on the mansion he owns. Why is his club allowed to continue? You could make the case that the government is accommodating to the supporters of the team. They could have stopped them for the rest of the season. The government will try to make sure that the team stays in business.

A lot of people will say that if they are allowed to continue playing and accept the terms of the government, then they should just be quiet. The existence of the club is a concern for the club. If some of the restrictions are not loosened, they feel there is a chance they won't be able to continue this season.

MP: Chelsea should be seized and profits used to rebuild Ukraine

The government should seize the property and use the money to reconstruct Ukraine, the MPs have heard.

Under the terms of the restrictions, Abramovich must not profit in the UK.

Chris Bryant told the House of Commons that we should be seizing assets. I don't think the government has the power to seize assets, in normal times you wouldn't want the government to do that, but we need that power now.

If you look at the club, it is in a kind of limbo. I have no bad feelings against the club. I don't really care about football.

The asset should be seized by the government so that it can be used for reconstruction in Ukraine. If the government doesn't take that power, it won't be able to do that.