Gary Neville slams ‘cowardly’ Roman Abramovich over Chelsea stewardship statement

Gary Neville has called Roman Abramovich ‘cowardly’ over his decision to pass on his ‘stewardship’ of Chelsea.

On Saturday, Abramovich delivered a surprise statement in which he announced that his ‘stewardship’ of the club to the trustees of the Chelsea’s charitable foundation.

Abramovich has constantly denied any link with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin but his statement comes just days after the UK Government announced a list of sanctions against Russian banks, oligarchs and companies.

The day-to-day running of Chelsea is expected to be unaffected by the change as Marina Granovskaia will remain in charge of the club’s football operations.

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And Neville has accused Abramovich of trying to ‘con’ people by suggesting that he is handing over control of Chelsea.

‘Maybe myself and most others who saw that statement thought, ‘oh, this is a noble gesture, it’s the right thing to do’… when you look at who the trustees are, Emma Hayes the Chelsea women’s manager, Piara Powar who set-up Kick It Out, John Devine [sports lawyer], it’s quite clear they’re not going to be running Chelsea Football Club,’ Neville told Sky Sports.

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

‘In fact, if anything, it was cowardly approach to throw a hospital pass to good people on the foundation board when it’s quite clear he runs the football club with Marina [Granovskaia] and Petr Cech.

‘These owners from the top-six clubs are insulated from reality. They think they can put a smart PR team around them and con us