Gary Neville accuses Roman Abramovich of 'cowardly approach' over Chelsea stewardship statement

Roman Abramovich has come in for criticism from Gary Neville, with the former England international saying the Chelsea owner has taken a “cowardly approach” by handing over running of the Blues to the club’s charitable trust. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen Abramovich come under the spotlight, and he released a statement on Saturday saying the running of the club had been handed over to Chelsea’s Charitable Foundation.

Ad/> The Telegraph has said that has not yet been confirmed, with the report saying the trustees are concerned about being seen as a front for Abramovich. Premier LeagueRice: I see myself staying close to London04/02/2022 AT 11:11 That is a view shared by Neville, who said in his role on Sky Sports at the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea that Abramovich will continue to make the major decisions at Stamford Bridge.

«One of the smartest things that I think Roman Abramovich has done over the last 20 years is not speak, not make statements,» Neville said. «Because the statement that he made last night left more questions than answers.

»If anything I thought it was, to be fair, a cowardly approach to sort of throw a hospital pass to good people on the charitable and foundation board when it's quite clear he runs the club with Marina (Granovskaia, club director) and Petr Cech (technical and performance advisor). /> «There's no way that the charitable foundation of Chelsea is running the club and I'm not quite sure why Roman Abramovich made that statement.