12 1GG Monday May 23 2022 | the times
thegame
Chelsea
Havertz 11, Barkley 90+1^2RATINGS
Chelsea (3-4-2-1): É Mendy 7 — C Azpilicueta 5,
T Silva 6, A Rüdiger 6 (R Barkley 65min, 7)
— R James 7, S Ñíguez 6, N Kanté 6, Kenedy 7
(M Sarr 59, 6) — H Ziyech 6, M Mount 6
(B Chilwell 90) — K Havertz 6.
Watford (4-3-3): D Bachmann 7 — K Femenía 6,
C Kabasele 6, Samir 6, H Kamara 6 (A Masina 78)
— M Sissoko 5, E Kayembe 7 (D Gosling 82),
T Cleverley 6 — J King 6, J Pedro 6, K Sema 6.
Referee M Dean.
Attendance 32,089.Watford
Gosling 87^1This day of farewells finished with a
new face on the Stamford Bridge
pitch. Thomas Tuchel had joked that
Todd Boehly was a jinx to his team, as
the incoming American owner was
yet to see his £4.25 billion purchase
win a game live, and yet there he was
before their lap of honour,
congratulating each member of the
team as they emerged from the
tunnel after a win over a relegated
Watford that concludes a season few
will ever forget.
“It’s a mood changer,” Tuchel
said, and change was certainly in
the air. This was the day that
marked the end of the Roman
Abramovich era, with the sale
to Boehly’s consortium set to
go through this week.
Abramovich’s only
presence was on a giant
collage of figures unveiled
in the Shed End, both old
and new, from Peter
Osgood to John Terry,
Matthew Harding to Eden
Hazard.
The sale of Chelsea is expected to be
signed off this week with Roman
Abramovich understood to be
prepared to agree to legally-binding
guarantees that a £1.6 billion loan to
the club will not go to the Russian
oligarch or his family, according to
sources close to the process.
The club’s takeover by a consortium
led by Todd Boehley, the co-owner of
the LA Dodgers, has been held up by
government concerns over the debt
owed by Chelsea’s parent company,
Fordstam, to the Jersey-registered
Camberley International Investments.
The signing of legally-binding
guarantees will allow the money to go
into a frozen account under
government control, sources said.
The Times has also learnt that
Demetris Ioannides, the Cypriot
lawyer who has been a close aide of
Abramovich’s for two decades,
resigned on May 10 as the trustee of
the trust which owns Camberley
International. Sources close to
Chelsea sale almost complete
Camberley have said that as an EU
national he was unable to continue in
the role owing to a package of
sanctions brought in by the European
Union.
The debt has proved an obstacle,
according to some of those involved
in the sale process, because Ioannides
had been reluctant to sign any
agreement to write it off in case it
makes him liable to future legal
action from the beneficiaries of the
trust. It is understood however that a
solution was found which indemnified
the trustee against legal action. The
Camberley source also said that the
UK and Jersey governments had to
give approval to the sale.
Ioannides, 78, has been closely
involved in Abramovich’s financial
arrangements for many years, and he
was one of a trio of “people with
significant control” of Abramovich’s
Chelsea-based management firm
MHC (Services) Ltd, who formally
ceased their involvement with that
company on February 24, the day
Russia invaded Ukraine.
They were replaced by David
Davidovich, a close ally ofAbramovich’s who has since also been
sanctioned by the British government.
In 2008, a High Court case heard
that Ioannides’s Cyprus-based service
company MeritServus Ltd controlled
a web of companies in the British
Virgin Islands and Cyprus, “which
hold various interests, personal and
business, some very sizeable, of which
Mr Abramovich is, or would appear to
be, the ultimate owner”.
MeritServus and another company,
Finservus, controlled Abramovich’s
business interests and “personal
assets [such as] planes, boats and
houses”.
A High Court case in 2012
stated that a Cyprus-based trust
operated from March 2001
with Abramovich and his
children as the
beneficiaries, with
Ioannides one of the
trustees along with
Eugene Tenenbaum, a
Chelsea director, whowas also sanctioned last month. Last
week a government source described
the ownership of Camberley
International as “murky and
complicated,” adding: “The
ridiculousness of this scenario is that
Chelsea are saying to us they don’t
know who owns Camberley
International and can’t talk to them.
We cannot contact Camberley
International to talk about this.
“Our understanding is that
Camberley International is an
affiliate of a trust fund which is
owned by his children or goes
to his children with an
individual in Cyprus acting as
the trustees’ signatory.”
The Chelsea loan
was originally owed
to Lindeza
Worldwide Ltd, a
company registered
in the British Virgin
Islands. In 2018
that was
transferred to
Camberley
International
Investments.Documents from Jersey’s companies
register show that it was also
originally incorporated in the British
Virgin Islands and then in 2020 was
registered as a Jersey company. The
Times attempted to contact Ioannides
and MeritServus without response.
MeritServus’s website explains how
it can benefit rich investors, saying: “A
Cyprus holding company is a
preferred vehicle used by investors
seeking to protect and optimize their
assets in a tax efficient way. A Cyprus
holding company can own foreign
subsidiaries and engage in financing
and licensing activities with minimal
or no tax on income received.”
It has a section, in Russian, on how
“Cyprus offers a unique program to
grant investors a EU nationality
within a short timeframe,” meaning
“the investor and his family can
obtain Cypriot passports within a six-
month review period” subject to
investing at least a million euros in
Cyprus and making donations to local
foundations.
Abramovich does not have Cypriot
citizenship, but has Israeli and
Portuguese passports.MARTYN ZIEGLER,
MATT LAWTON
Tuchel in a rush
to recruit after
day of farewells
Yet this inconsequential victory
came from a figure largely forgotten
here. Ross Barkley converted a
stoppage-time winner in his first
Premier League appearance in five
months, having been involved in the
first goodbye of the day. Barkley
replaced the departing Antonio
Rüdiger, who received a standing
ovation as he prepares to join Real
Madrid as a free agent this summer.
Andreas Christensen, absent since
pulling out of the squad on the
morning of the FA Cup final, also
appeared on the pitch for the lap of
honour alongside a raft of others who
may depart. César Azpilicueta and
Marcos Alonso could still join
Christensen in Barcelona.
The final whistle marked the end of
two careers — for the man blowing it
and the one in the away dugout. Mike
Dean, the referee, blew kisses and
waved to the stands before greeting
the retiring Roy Hodgson. Between
them, they have almost 1,500 games.
Hodgson’s successor, Rob Edwards,
watched on and plans to call the
former England manager in the
coming days.
What lies ahead for Hodgson is not
clear but a return to the touchline is
unlikely. “Maybe next time I won’t
be tempted back when someone
asks me to perform another rabbit-
out-of-the-hat trick,” he said.
“£100 million-a-year might tempt
me back. But I don’t think
that’s going to happen.”
Tuchel’s future is clearer:
a team dinner last night to
mark the season’s end. Yet
his work is only just
beginning. “Cannot go on
holiday, no,” he said. “It’s
impossible. There are too
many things to clarify
and give an opinion
[on].”
Replacing players is
key. “We have to be fastand smart,” Tuchel said. “The
disadvantage grows every day, of
course, while the two top teams
[Liverpool and Manchester
City] improve, and have
very clear teams on
which they build.”
Nothing summed up
the final-day feel
more than the
presence of Chelsea’s
Brazilian full back,
Kenedy, who was
making his first Premier
League start since May- The performance left
you wondering why.
Kenedy threatened Watford down
the left with an early cross that had
Hodgson’s defence in a muddle and
required Hassane Kamara to clear
just as Hakim Ziyech was about to
pounce. Kamara was helpless in the
11th minute when Kenedy’s
next cross fizzed through
the legs of Kiko Femenía
for Kai Havertz to tap in
from close range.
It should have been
Havertz’s second of
the day, having been
played through inside
five minutes by a
delightful chipped pass
from Mason Mount, only
to see the Watford
goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann
beat away his effort.
Havertz struck the crossbar with
the final kick of the half whenWatford began to grow into the game.
Edo Kayembe came close before João
Pedro forced a fine save from the
Chelsea goalkeeper Édouard Mendy
after jinking through the penalty area.
Watford’s equaliser came with three
minutes to go via a combination of
Hodgson’s two substitutes. Adam
Masina crossed from the left and Dan
Gosling somehow snuck in at the far
post to produce an impressive header.
This day of farewells was filled with
forgotten midfielders. Chelsea’s
victory arrived via the excellent
delivery of Reece James, who crossed
with the outside of his right boot
before the lively Barkley nodded in.
Boehly was on his feet and soon on
the field as the new era at the Bridge
began.THOMAS RODDY
Substitute Barkley stoops to head in the late winner for Chelsea on a day when the club said goodbye to a host of playersChelsea head coach Tuchel
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Chelsea are the first side
to go through a Premier
League season having
never been behind
at half-time