Roman Abramovich's hopes of selling European champions Chelsea were put on hold on Thursday after the UK government hit the Russian billionaire with an assets freeze. The finance ministry said restrictions "apply to any entities that are owned or controlled by Roman Abramovich", adding: "This means Chelsea Football Club is now also subject to an asset freeze under UK financial sanctions."Abramovich was on Thursday hit with an assets freeze and travel ban as part of new UK government sanctions targeting seven Russian oligarchs. Among others sanctioned are leading industrialist Oleg Deripaska, Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller, the government announced.