Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

It has now been over a week since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched what he called a “special military operation” in Ukraine. We now know that, by that, he meant a barbaric bombardment of civilian targets across the country.

According to the United Nations (UN), 227 civilians were killed and 525 injured between 24 February and 1 March, although the New York Times reported that these numbers are likely undercounts. The UN’s refugee agency has said that more than a million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began.

Russia’s aggression has been met with outrage across the globe, including from the world of sports. A number of sports leagues and bodies have banned Russian teams and athletes, the most notable being FIFA. Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) actually took a stand (😱) and recommended that sports federations worldwide ban Russian athletes and teams from competitions.

The IOC’s decisive qualities conveniently emerged just days after the end of a highly controversial Beijing Winter Olympics, during which the organisation had remained largely silent about China’s abysmal human rights record. In fact, a report in the New York Times suggests that senior Chinese government officials told their Russian counterparts in early February to not invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics. Which, if true, means China knew about Putin’s war plans beforehand.

This week’s edition, though, is not about the IOC or FIFA or China. It’s about a football club that has been caught in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine war because of its owner.

How the Roman empire changed the business of football

The statement finally dropped at about 6.15 pm local time on Wednesday, just an hour before Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round match against Luton Town.

Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, has decided to sell Chelsea, the Premier League club he has bankrolled since 2003. The 55-year-old has been under pressure to sell the club ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last week.

Multiple members of parliament in the United Kingdom have called for sanctions against him because of his supposed closeness with Putin. MP David Davis, for instance, pointed out that when Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, he was the governor of a province in Russia: “It was alleged by associates of his that the purchase was done at the behest of the Kremlin.