Sports business

London football club Chelsea showed a profit for the first time since the club was owned by Roman Abramovich. The Russian entrepreneur bought Chelsea in 2003 and immediately began pouring serious funds into the team. During the first four years of ownership of the club, Mr Abramovich spent an average of about £700,000 a day on strengthening the team. As a result, Chelsea, which was unprofitable before the transfer of control over it to Roman Abramovich, began to set anti-records. Thus, in 2004, the loss amounted to almost £76 million, and in 2005 it exceeded £132 million. Until the end of the 2011 financial year, last June, Chelsea recorded losses. And only once did they amount to less than £65 million.

However, thanks to the victory in the Champions League last season, which brought the club almost €60 million, it was possible to significantly increase its income. So much so that they exceeded costs and Chelsea made a profit of £1.4 million.

What is noteworthy is that Chelsea - and also for the first time during Roman Abramovich's ownership - managed not to lose, but to earn on transfers (£28.8 million). This is despite the fact that the reporting period included purchases of such players as Eden Hazard (£30 million), Juan Mata (£23 million) and Gary Cahill (£7 million). Chelsea's report also claims that the club is no longer in debt following its restructuring. The debts, however, were formal. The fact is that Mr. Abramovich formalized investments in the team as interest-free loans. After the restructuring of FC Chelsea itself, it owes nothing to anyone. This is important due to the introduction of Financial Fair Play rules, which place significant restrictions on football clubs regarding their sources of funding. In particular, the amount that a team owner can contribute to its capital is sharply limited - up to €45 million over three seasons. Alexander Petrov

Chelsea end their losses