Abramovich ownership unchanged beyond PR

A day after Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich handed over the "stewardship and care" of the Premier League club to its charitable foundation trustees, declaring he always had "the club's best interest at heart," several issues remain.

What has been heard from Abramovich is a vague suggestion of ceding control of Chelsea without legally doing so.

What hasn't been heard is condemnation by Chelsea and its Russian oligarch owner of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It wasn't heard in the statement issued by Chelsea on Sunday about what it called the "conflict in Ukraine".

The conflict was described as "horrific and devastating" but there was no mention of the aggressor behind the war - Russia.

"Everyone at the club is praying for peace," the west London club urged in an unusual statement from a football team which touched on geopolitics around coverage on its website building up to Sunday's League Cup final meeting with Liverpool.

The words didn't go far enough for one member of the British Parliament. Chris Bryant, a legislator with the opposition Labour Party, who raised objections to Abramovich in the House of Commons earlier in the week and said "seizing some of his assets" should be considered by the UK government.

"Unless and until he condemns the criminal invasion of Ukraine," Bryant tweeted on Sunday, "I will continue to call for the UK to sanction him and seize/freeze assets."

The pre-emptive move by Abramovich on Saturday, giving the impression of handing over control of the reigning European and world champions, did not actually cede power in any legal sense.

It was a carefully worded statement that looked at first glance to be a significant distancing of Abramovich from day-to-day operations at Chelsea, but is more