By dixon9
January 18 2009

Roman Abramovich has had enough of the media claiming that he is going to sell Chelsea. The final straw was this weekend when The Sunday Times printed an article which stated that he had sent associates to Dubai in order to urgently find a buyer. Abramovich will now take the publication to court for defamation. The Club released the following statement today:

STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF OWNER 

Posted on: Sun 18 Jan 2009

Defamation proceedings will be commenced tomorrow (Monday) in London by Roman Abramovich against the publishers of The Sunday Times. 

This follows the publication by them of false claims that he wants to sell his interest in Chelsea FC. Mr Abramovich has already made quite clear, through the directors of Chelsea, that he has no intention of doing so and that neither he nor anyone upon his behalf has been pursuing any such course of action.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Chelsea executive, Peter Kenyon had previously responded to fans yesterday: 

'There has been a lot of rumour and speculation surrounding Chelsea and the owner's commitment to the club. 

'I can assure you on his behalf that this is totally unfounded and anything else you might read about this is rubbish. Chelsea is not for sale. The owner has not and is not looking to sell his interest in the club and he remains as committed as ever.' 

Roman Abramovich can’t win whatever he does.

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From the first day of taking over the club the media and many football fans said that he was a joke and didn’t know what it took to win titles.  They have constantly said that Abramovich would tire quickly of Chelsea, sell and up-sticks.  Years have passed and he is still at the club. 

One of his first actions when taking over the club was to build a state-of-the-art training ground and academy complex in Cobham in order to give Chelsea FC one of the worlds best facilities for the first team squad and youth development –  this should have been a sign that Abramovich meant business, but regular statements to the press from Kenyon and one interview from Abramovich himself denying that Chelsea FC was a short-term profit-making exercise did little to quell speculation.   

Last season Abramovich had cameras installed at the Cobham so that he could see the Chelsea teams training when he was away on business.  When in England he watches first team and youth matches and only a month ago, whilst on business, surprised regulars at the renowned Nevada Smiths pub in New York by coming in, sitting down and watching Chelsea live on television. 

He has only invested in Chelsea and demonstrated enthusiasm whilst other owners such as Glazer, Hicks and Gilet have shown that their only intention is not to build but to maximise profit in the short-term whilst the fans pick up the tab. 

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This is not the first time newspapers have been sued by members of the club; Abramovich has done so once already, John Terry and also Andriy Shevchenko (twice).  

In all cases these publications are owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Sky Sports.  It shouldn´t take a nuclear physicist to have a reasonable guess at what has been going on here.

Abramovich had enough and will sue Sunday Times

Discussion started by 50 Years Over 100 Years , 18/01/2009 17:04

50 Years Over 100 Years
18/01/2009 17:04

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009:01:18:17:38:10 by dixon9.

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Since 66
18/01/2009 17:09

That explains the reason why Kenyon went to the fans forum yesterday to explain the Mr A was still committed to the club because they knew this stories were going to break today.



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dixon9
18/01/2009 17:26

It´s been a long time coming.

The club have a difficult position; if they were to respond to all the c.r.a.p in the papers all the time then the web site would constantly be full of denials...but there has to come a breaking point, where the line is crossed too often and action taken.


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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
18/01/2009 17:29

As I said before and on many occasions - we are an easy target, we are like the kid in the playground always getting bullied.

And I thought bullying was outdated!!!



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dixon9
18/01/2009 17:34

No you are right mate (and I´m a bit guilty of rising to take the fly easily now and then!).

However, we get a lot of unjust press (not all of it but most of it) and why not fight back a bit, spread the gospel and put our view across despite it being from a very modest platform?

"Fk em all! Fk em all!"


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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009:01:18:17:36:08 by dixon9.

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guest
18/01/2009 17:47

if i were mr a,,,,


i would buy the paper,the whole shabang then have great fun with my puppets on a string.

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Since 66
18/01/2009 17:58

u wudnt know wot do wiv all that money except drink it



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guest
18/01/2009 18:07

i would by stochie boy and bruno and give em to burnley,

jt and lamps would be of to the kc

carvalo and essien of to man u

then i would get leatherd

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dixon9
18/01/2009 18:38

Wasn´t it George Best who said that he spent half his money on fast cars, booze and women ....and wasted the other half?!



"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
18/01/2009 20:24

and look where that got him!



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dixon9
18/01/2009 20:41

True!

But sometimes the brightest flames go out quicker.



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Since 66
18/01/2009 21:03

RIP

George



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dixon9
18/01/2009 21:06

.



"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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dixon9
19/01/2009 00:15

Times now back-off (no doubt trying to reduce damages):

LINK


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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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Moobs
19/01/2009 16:25

This is bizarre. It may well be that it is not true that Roman intends to sell the club but I don't see how it is defamatory.

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dixon9
19/01/2009 16:49

His standing in the business world? Promising on various occasions to thousands of people that he won´t sell their club and then having someone saying that he is selling?

Not too sure about the legal angle - but I bet its all been discussed thoroughly with his lawyers before presenting the writ to the court.



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"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.

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