Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea embarrassed themselves in handling the Roman Abramovich situation since the Russia-Ukraine problems emerged.
The eastern European crisis between Russia and Ukraine has had a tremendous effect on the world. Football, too, is feeling the jolt as players, nations, and clubs worldwide express their dismay over the situation, particularly opposing Russia for its actions.
Chelsea, in particular, have come under scrutiny due to their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. The oligarch has well known, personal and business ties to current Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is public knowledge. Many believe that the Blues boss continues to support Putin in many aspects, and the UK media and MPs called for sanctions on the Russian national as a result.
Abramovich’s stance on the issue has been kept under the wraps as fans grew uncertain about what might happen at Chelsea with this situation at hand. On Saturday, Abramovich released a statement confirming that he will be relinquishing control of the club, with the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation taking over.
Following the statement, which caused a stir in the media for its lack of condemnation of Russia’s actions, many seem to suggest it was a wrong way to handle the situation.
Jamie Carragher says Chelsea have 'embarrassed themselves' in their handling of the situation surrounding Roman Abramovich's decision to temporarily step away from the club following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.pic.twitter.com/JsKyccJj0w
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 27, 2022
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher voiced his opinion on the situation, as the pundit was seemingly disappointed with the club’s recent actions. He told Sky Sports that Chelsea have embarrassed themselves in the way they have handled the whole case.
He said, “They’ve embarrassed themselves. I don’t think they’ve handled it really well. With the couple of statements, they’ve put out. I think it’s been really poor, and they’ve let themselves down badly.”
“The club came out today and put a statement out, but I think it was almost trying to rectify what Roman Abramovich had put out the night before. I don’t think they did that well either. It’s not worked out well for them at all, I think they’ve embarrassed themselves.”
Carragher also said that Abramovich’s handing over of stewardship and care falls short of handing over ownership and claims the club should have been firmer in their stance from the start.
“They should have been a lot stronger in what they said, and regarding Roman Abramovich passing on to Chelsea trustees, that’s not him relinquishing the club; stewardship is not ownership. It’s completely different because he’s still in charge, he’s still running it, which is fine. But to not actually mention in his initial statement what was going on in Ukraine, I thought was really poor.”
