 Welcome back, Kassel, the breakfast and plush CV Africa. We talk spots at this point in time. Now, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, and others have said that they're moving to scrutinize the asset of handful of rich and powerful Russians. Now, this government says such people have profited from close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, Russian billionaire paid 140 million pounds to acquire the club back in 2023, 2003, I beg your pardon. According to the reason for Abramovich selling the club is that it's attributed to the threat of being sanctioned by the United Kingdom government. And if that happens, it means that all of his assets would actually be frozen and he would definitely lose everything. Abramovich says the net proceeds from the sale of Chelsea will be donated to a foundation for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. Joining us to make sense of this is a journalist, a sports journalist, and also the director and communications officer of Andreas F.C. Mighty George. It's good to have you join us this morning on the show. Guys, good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. All right, thank you, Mighty George. Just before we get into all of the discussion, let us quickly take this video. And the mighty judge will be doing a whole lot of explanation to us concerning the future of Chelsea in a moment, stay with us. As threats to sanction Russia's oligarchs intensify, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich said he would sell Chelsea Football Club after 19 years, promising to donate money from the sale to help victims of the war in Ukraine. The metals magnet said in a statement Wednesday that a sale was in the best interests of the reigning European and World Soccer champions. The announcement comes as Russian billionaires come under intensifying pressure. Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to comment on whether Britain would impose sanctions on Abramovich, but said the vice was tightening on those around Russian President Vladimir Putin. And in the U.S., Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced further efforts to sanction Russia's elite. We and our allies and partners are launching a task force to identify, track down, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs. Business tycoon Hans-Yorg Weiss told a newspaper that he was considering buying Chelsea from Abramovich, saying Abramovich wanted to get rid of Chelsea quickly and was trying to sell his villas in England as well. Abramovich bought the West London Club in 2003 for a reported 140 million pounds, an investment that led to the most successful era in the team's history. The 55-year-old, who has Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, became one of Russia's most powerful businessmen by earning fortunes after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Forbes has put his net worth at $13.3 billion. I saw the breakfast and we do have Mighty George joining the conversation this morning. Thank you once again for being part of the breakfast. We do appreciate your time. To be here as well every time. All right, so, Mighty George, let's get to the crux of the matter. What do you think the fate of the football club, Chelsea, will be? I mean, now that Abramovich is considering selling Chelsea, and we know that under his ownership of this club, the club has done very well, winning 21 trophies and probably have had several buyings. And that's because of the resources available. Well, you know, most people who are Chelsea fans today only just recognize the Abramovich era, which of course started back in 2003 to two days. It's been the most successful era of Chelsea football club. And, you know, you just want to start thinking how the club would fail, you know, without Abramovich. Well, many have said, you know, he's running the money, but Abramovich actually brought in the personnel as well, which unfortunately we hear some of them believe in. You know, there's a football woman who translated from just being his personal assistant to learning the ropes in football and now responsible for a lot of, you know, buys and successes and marketing for us of Chelsea football club, Chelsea football club, Abramovich turned from a selling club, you know, from a buying club rather to a selling club. At points, when they came and they wanted the biggest money before the game. Now, there's Chelsea, you were slashing the cash from players, you know, Rothschild, Schengler, at that time for a record fee, you know, it's a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big. All right, Mighty George. From across the globe. And then it's going into a very business, you know, hello. All right, we seem to be having a bit of disconnect, but I just wanted to find out the consequences and the aftermath of all of this, because from his statement, he says his impasse in the fee-watched, is he still in control? And will it affect the day-to-day or run-in or activities of the Chelsea's football club? Well, as it is, you know, the first thing he did was hand over to the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, but, you know, they have said, and you can say that that's not enough. You need to set it out right there and have no control over it. So that's definitely what's going to happen. Romana Bramovich would seem to be the owner of Chelsea's football club, and there will be a new owner, obviously, when the four billion valuation is met, which we hear now that the owner of Newcastle has, you know, has thrown in three billion. When that is met, Amanda Stevebe would be the new owner, and so Romana Bramovich will not be holding the shots anymore. Everyone who pays as much as four billion definitely will be caught in the shot. So it is indeed the end of an era. It's the end of a Romana Bramovich era. They've asked him to pack his things. We don't want any businesses, you know, connected to a Romana Bramovich who is a well-known Russia and a well-known, I mean, in-coach, associate of Putin when it comes to them having acquaintances. So the Adobe player, a new owner, surely doesn't buy it, but it's interesting to know that it's not just Chelsea who are owned by the Russian side, and that's why some businesses themselves have come. Also, the owner of Romana is actually a Russian. Actually, it was a dead Russian. And so the pressure hasn't come so much, you know, Romana, I'm not sure why. He's a Russian citizen, also Usmanov. The owner of Everton is a Russian, you know, but we're hearing that he's also having plans to sell Everton. But you can see why it's all about Chelsea. They're the biggest club affected by this one right now. And no doubt, if Romana sells and collects that money, then he seizes to be the owner and calling the shots. So it's effectively going to see an end on a Romana Bramovich era. Quite unfortunate. All right, so, but my teacher, do you see this effect in transfer? Because maybe just maybe the clubs would probably, or the club would have to be spending more and would not be dependent on a Bramovich. And we know that resources, you can't take this out. And some people have actually said that Chelsea fans might not be seeing like you have rightly put the splash of money on players. And so we probably might not see the season of, you know, signing players and whose contract would just expire, might just not be renewed. Well, there are lots of Jacobs that will come with having a new owner. It'll be a new philosophy. For a Bramovich, it's always been, I need to get the best. One notable thing you know about a Bramovich era is the turnover of coaches. But you would argue that they won, you know, quite a number of trophies. So, if you stack a big coach, like who's giving, you know, Chelsea-Marinio and bringing, you know, Jose Scolari and you get win titles. So it's no big deal. So the philosophy of the owner would really determine how Chelsea will shape this devourer. Good thing they have one of the best academies. And they reject some of the players who's coming from the lower ranks. Chelsea have been doing well from academy players from, of course, Potson, Adoree, Cominé, Reece James. Those are all players. We tell me about where to go down to A.S. Brown. So they're doing well with the academy and that's why it's that important, you know, the spending. I think that any owner that comes now, should try to borrow the Bramovich model. It would work very well. Anyone that could drop three to four billion to buy the club should be able to be ready to also spend money to buy players as well. Knowing that you're part of that sort of money, you might just want to be conservative in terms of player projects and see what you can do with players that you have in stock. For Chelsea, they're going out to buy a player on the Bramovich. They don't mind how much that player is. So, so, so do you say... So the question, you haven't... I'm hoping that you just, you know, answer that. Do you say this affects in the fact that the transfer season might not just... The fans might not just be seeing all of the buying and splashing of monies on players. That's what I'm asking. Yeah, yeah. Surely, surely. You know, I said if I said it depends on the philosophy or the financial process of the new owners. But if you spend that much money to buy a club, I'm sure you want to be conservative in your spending. So it is likely that Chelsea would not be seeing big signings, at least in the first season of the club. Like I said earlier, I think you're pretty comfortable here. They're dominant in the world scene and the world champions. They can't just rely on the fact that we still have some very great players to see us for another season. But surely, we're not going to see Chelsea splash the cash in the transfer market if... And well, it's a matter of when now. This club transfer goes through because the UK needs element on making it happen. All right, go ahead, Masi. So just before I let Justin come through now, there's also some school of thought saying that when Chelsea was taken over by Roman Abramovich in 2003, that also made it difficult, you know, it became a rivalry. Chelsea became a rivalry with the Liverpool. And if Chelsea is going to be sold out and not going to be under the control of ownership of Abramovich, then there's a possibility that that competition might just be eliminated and the likes of Liverpool and Martin United might just be topping the chart in terms of the games. Well, that's just a school of thought, but it sometimes doesn't really count. Yes, Chelsea were pretty much a decent sign, but not, I mean, a struggle inside pre-Abramovich era, but he came in and he showed the world that money can actually change things. And that's the same model that Manchester City came with too, when the Abu Dhabi group came to buy them over and got the likes of Pellegrini, got great players from across the continent as well. It's a matter of the money, it's a matter of the acumen of the owner, but Chelsea have now established themselves as a dominant force. So regardless of who the owner is, I think that Chelsea would still have that sort of mentality moving forward. Manchester United still have the same owners from the Alex Ferguson era, but look at how they are, they're struggling these days. Same with Arsenal as well. Yes, it might give some of those teams some confidence to see how they can deplete Chelsea. Chelsea is a bit shaky now. Let's see how we can make them get them back out of the top four. But that's not the case. I think Chelsea have built a very strong base from the academy on. They have lots of wonderful football structures. And whoever is inheriting the club should maintain those structures because that's what I've seen them win 21 times on the Abramovich era and now they're club world champions. So it doesn't really count if the ownership changes at that. The rivalry might change. I think that Chelsea would still be around there in the top four, still be costing a lot of problems, but surely it's the mentality now. If you have new staffers who come in, if this affects the morale of the players, the current players, because I know Oren Abramovich usually has one-on-one interviews with the players and his friends with some of them, if this affects them psychologically and the new owners and the coach cannot bring them home to that level, where they know that people will come and go, although this is quite tough, which is an owner coming and going. If they cannot lift themselves out of that psychologically, it would affect the team this season. And then we'll have to wait and see what strategies we've brought about in the next season. For that rivalry, I think that Chelsea will come to stay just the same way Manchester City will come to stay as well. All right, mighty judge. It's all about the mentality now. All right, mighty judge, thank you so much for bringing all of those angles that we really need to know concerning the future of Chelsea and of course European football, English, and primarily concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and of course most of these clubs having Russian ownership. We do appreciate your time, mighty judge. Thank you very much. All right, that's the size of the show for today. We want to say a very big thank you to all of you who have sat back to watch the show all through Monday to Friday. My name is Justin Acadonia. And I am Masya Boko, in case you missed out on any part of the conversation. That's all right, to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It's at Plos TV Africa. And do not forget to subscribe to YouTube channel as a Plos TV Africa lifestyle. I am Masya Boko. Many thanks for watching.