Following criticism in recent weeks that the UK government has lagged behind both the US and the EU when it comes to sanctioning oligarchs, this morning the Foreign Office announced fresh sanctions for seven businessmen with alleged links to Vladimir Putin. On that list is Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich. The billionaire Chelsea FC owner is among those to have their assets frozen and facing a travel ban. Others on the list include Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska, Andrey Kostin, Alexei Miller, Nikolai Tokarev and Dmitri Lebedev – with the justification for each sanction available here.

In the case of Abramovich, the UK government says that he has been ‘involved in destabilising Ukraine’ through his business links as well as receiving ‘preferential treatment’ from the Kremlin. With Abramovich facing sanctions, a special licence has been issued for Chelsea Football Club – which will allow games to be played, staff paid and ticket holders (pre-existing) to attend matches. While this will allow the club to operate on a limited basis, Abramovich’s plan to sell the club appears to have hit a brick wall – as the government would need to give permission.

Announcing the news, the Foreign Secretary said the seven oligarchs being sanctioned have the ‘blood of the Ukrainian people on their hands’. Liz Truss added that ‘they should hang their heads in shame’. Yet many in parliament are wondering why it has taken the government this long to do this in the first place. It comes as MPs voted this week to tighten up sanction laws with amendments to the Economic Crime Bill – which is yet to gain royal assent – following frustration both in government and outside of it that the UK rules were leading to a much more drawn out process than in other countries.