Chelsea means a lot more to Abramovich than just a toy. He is one of the few owners who attended most games and refused every approach to sell, despite the UK

Chelsea means a lot more to Abramovich than just a toy. He is one of the few owners who attended most games and refused every approach to sell, despite the UK govt.'s best efforts to obstruct. He took the team from a bunch of nobodies to the most successful Premier League team over the last 20 years. He also invested a lot into future sustenance, leading to arguably the best academy in English football. He has always had shady roots, but no more than do most oligarchs. Especially ones from non-Western nations. He was well liked within the club, and disliked outside as all nouveau-riche clubs are. Had good relationships with players and came across as a fan, first as foremost. Also did a lot to remedy some of the anti-semitic history within the club. He was a major player in facilitating Putin's rise to power and reaped benefits from it. It is often said, that Chelsea was his way of owning a major western investment that Putin could not snatch away at a moment's notice. Due to hi ties with Putin, Roman has been under intense pressure to sell the club for the last 5 years. He was banned from visiting the club and his ability to inject funding was also hampered significantly. The war was the last nail in the coffin, as the sanctions are forcing him into a position where selling is the only option. Separating himself from the club saves face for the club and keeps it alive, at the expense of his ability to have any influence on it. Roman may be a less-than-honorable man out in the world, but to Chelsea fans, he was a true blue. It is a difficult dichotomy that Chelsea fans have lived with, but now is the hardest it has ever been. As far as a russian oil-tycoon(mafia?) oligarchs go, he has acted in good faith during the war and pushed vocally pushed for peace and resolution in the war. That's probably the most he can do without being shot. So, as a Chelsea fan, I'll take it.