Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who turned Chelsea into a global powerhouse, announced Saturday he’s surrendering control of the club to trustees of its charitable foundation, throwing into question the billionaire’s future as owner amid the growing threat of sanctions against him.

Abramovich faced calls to denounce Vladimir Putin after the Russian president ordered troops to invade Ukraine earlier this week. The 55-year-old has distanced himself from Putin and his regime.

British politician Chris Bryant on Thursday urged the U.K. government to freeze Abramovich’s assets, pointing to leaked documents from 2019 that suggested the Russian had links to “corrupt” activity.

“During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the club whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future while also playing a positive role in our communities,” Abramovich said in a statement.

“I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.

“I believe that, currently, they are in the best position to look after the interests of the club, players, staff, and fans.”

Bloomberg reported Friday that several investors and private equity firms were preparing potential offers to buy Chelsea and were ready to swoop in if the U.K. decided to sanction Abramovich. The club has reportedly fielded one inquiry already.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the prospect of freezing the assets of more Russian oligarchs who work and trade in the U.K. when he announced the “largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen” on Thursday.

The extent of Abramovich’s relationship with Putin is unknown, but a British high court ruled in 2012 that the billionaire had “very good relations” with and “privileged access” to the Russian president.

Representatives for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned in August 2020, claimed in January that Abramovich was one of several “key enablers” of Putin’s regime.

Putin and the Kremlin have denied involvement in Navalny’s poisoning, and Abramovich has denied Navalny’s claims.

Abramovich has kept a low profile since allowing his U.K. visa to expire in 2018 amid a diplomatic dispute between London and Moscow over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in southern England.

Abramovich returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time in three years in November after gaining Israeli citizenship. Holders of Israeli passports can stay in the U.K. without a visa for up to six months at a time but can’t work in the country.

Reuters reported in December that Abramovich had obtained Portuguese citizenship under a law that provides passports to descendants of Jewish people who fled the Iberian peninsula during the medieval Inquisition. Crucially, Abramovich had gained an EU passport, which made working in the U.K. easier.

Chelsea, who’ve won 21 titles since Abramovich bought the club for £140 million in 2003, will now fall into the care of the six trustees, including club chairman Bruce Buck, Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes, and Piara Powar, executive director of anti-discrimination organization FARE.

A number of sports investors and private equity firms are preparing offers to swoop in and buy Chelsea as Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the club’s wealthy longtime owner, faces the threat of sanctions from the United Kingdom, sources told Bloomberg’s David Hellier and Giles Turner.

Chelsea has already fielded one inquiry, according to Hellier and Turner.

Abramovich, who’s faced calls to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, has so far evaded sanctions from the U.K. But British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday he would hit the country with the “largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen,” including the freezing of assets of its super-rich.

Earlier, Johnson erroneously claimed Abramovich was “already facing sanctions” because of his ties with Putin. The government later clarified the prime minister had made an error.

But the U.K.’s foreign secretary, Liz Truss, maintained Abramovich could yet be sanctioned in the future.

Chris Bryant, a member of the Labour Party, called on the British government on Thursday to seize control of Abramovich’s assets, including Chelsea, the club he bought in 2003 for £140 million. Bryant said he had obtained government documents from 2019 that claimed the billionaire was associated with “corrupt activity and practices” in Russia.

The extent of Abramovich’s ties with Putin is unknown. The 55-year-old has publicly distanced himself and his affairs from Putin and his regime. However, in 2012, a British high court observed that Abramovich had “very good relations” with and “privileged access” to the Russian president.

Abramovich’s daughter, Sofia, distanced herself when she shared an anti-Putin message on Instagram on Friday.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel admitted Friday the uncertainty hanging over Abramovich’s future in the U.K. is affecting the team ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final against Liverpool.

“We should not pretend this is not an issue. The situation in general for me and for my staff, the players, is horrible,” Tuchel told reporters. “Nobody expected this. It’s pretty unreal. Like I said, it’s clouding our minds, it’s clouding our excitement towards the final. And it brings huge uncertainty, much more to all the people and families who are actually in the moment more involved than us.

“And our best wishes, regards, and thoughts are obviously with them, which is absolutely the most important thing.”

Chelsea, winners of 21 titles since Abramovich’s takeover, are now worth an estimated €1.9 billion, according to KPMG. A source told Bloomberg in 2018 that Abramovich had rejected bids in the past and was seeking £3 billion at the time.

A group of Brazilians who play for Ukrainian sides Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv are looking for help from the Brazilian government, saying Thursday they have no way to leave Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.

Around a dozen players and their families sought refuge in a hotel in Kyiv shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law across the eastern European nation.

Forty-one Brazilians currently play in Ukraine, with 31 in the first division and 13 representing Shakhtar Donetsk, a club that has a history of fielding teams with many Brazilian players.

“Here we are all gathered, Dynamo and Shakhtar players, with our families, staying here at the hotel because of the situation,” Marlon Santos, one of Shakhtar’s defenders, said in an Instagram video translated by theScore. “We are here asking for your help due to the lack of conditions that exist in the city, closed borders, closed airspace. There’s no way we can get out. We ask for a lot of support from the government of Brazil, which can help us.”

One of the Brazilian women in the video added: “We women are with our children, and feeling a little abandoned. We don’t know what to do, nothing comes to us. We appeal to you, even for the sake of the children. Each one left the house running to come to the hotel.”

Shakhtar haven’t played in their hometown of Donetsk since Russian-backed separatists sparked an uprising in the area in 2014. The club hosted games in Lviv and Kharkiv before migrating to the Olympic National Sports Complex in Kyiv in 2020.

Paulo Fonseca, who coached Shakhtar from 2016-19, is also stuck in Ukraine with his Ukrainian wife and family. He said he woke up to the sound of five explosions at 5 a.m. local time Thursday morning.

“I had a flight scheduled for today, but now it’s impossible to get out of here, especially because the airports are already destroyed and the airspace has been closed,” Fonseca told Portuguese outlet Jornal de Noticias.

“Right now, you can only get out of Kyiv by land and everyone is trying to escape to Lviv, a city close to Poland. The roads are completely stopped because it’s impossible to get around with so many cars. There’s no gasoline. All we can do is pray that a bomb doesn’t fall on us. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to get out of here.”

Shakhtar’s current manager, Roberto De Zerbi, said the same explosions woke him up, and he’s trying to find a way out of the country now that the Ukrainian Premier League – which has been on a two-month winter break – has been suspended indefinitely.

“Am I afraid? There are many worries, but I think about my family in Brescia who are worried,” De Zerbi told Sky Sport Italia. “The same goes for my players. They see me as the older one who should protect them, but I find it hard to tell them what to do. Some are very young.”