Two ministers and Tory MP accepted tickets and hospitality from Roman Abramovich's Chelsea FC

• Ministers Michael Gove and Greg Hands have accepted hospitality from Roman Abramovich's Chelsea FC.
• Backbench Conservative MP Damian Collins also took freebie tickets and hospitality from the club.

Two ministers have accepted free tickets with hospitality from Chelsea Football Club in the past eight years, records show, as owner Roman Abramovich's links to the Putin regime come under renewed focus.

Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has declared a total of eight tickets across three matches in August and November 2014 and January 2016, gifted to him by the club at a value of £2,048.

Greg Hands, a business minister whose constituency is home to Chelsea FC, accepted two tickets with hospitality in the director's box for a match in May 2017, worth £600.

Conservative MP Damian Collins, a former chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, accepted three tickets with hospitality, worth a total of £1,774, in October 2016 and March 2018.

In a Commons debate on Thursday, Chris Bryant quoted a leaked Home Office document, which said Abramovich "remains of interest to HMG [Her Majesty's Government] due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices".

The document added: "An example of this is Abramovich admitting in court proceedings that he paid for political influence. Therefore, HMG is focused on ensuring individuals linked to illicit finance and malign activity are unable to base themselves in the UK and will use the relevant tools at its disposal (including immigration powers) to prevent this."

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats' foreign spokesperson quoted a list compiled by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, which named Abramovich as one of Putin's "key enablers".

The oligarch announced in a statement Saturday he was transferring the "stewardship and care" of the club to Chelsea's charitable foundation, but he will remain the club's owner. The trustees of the foundation have not yet accepted taking control of the club, the BBC reported.

On Monday it was reported that Abramovich is attempting to help Ukraine negotiate a "peaceful resolution".

Hands said: "I was a guest of the Club five years ago for the Chelsea v Sunderland match, with a wider group of around 60-80 guests, connected with either club or with either city. As the MP for Chelsea & Fulham, Stamford Bridge stadium is in my constituency, which I have represented since 2005.

"As a Government minister, of course, I entirely agree with the Government's robust stance against Putin and Russia, as a result of their abhorrent invasion of Ukraine."

A spokesperson for Collins pointed Insider to remarks by Collins about the use of lawsuits to "intimidate legitimate journalism" citing Abramovich's role in a libel case against the journalist Catherine Belton.

"It is interesting that Mr Abramovich, who is not a resident of the UK, has not visited the country since 2018 and has not been granted a new UK visa, can nevertheless retain the services of the London law firm Harbottle & Lewis and has full access to the English courts", Collins said in the May 2021 debate.

Gove's office and Chelsea FC did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Bryant, a senior Labour MP and the Commons' standards committee chairman, told Insider: "It's time we weaned ourselves off dodgy Russian money. Putin's supporters have infiltrated the British political class for too long. It's time we cleaned up our act."

Susannah Fitzgerald, Senior Policy Officer at Transparency International UK, told Insider: "MPs should be mindful of how gifts and hospitality they are offered would be viewed by their constituents and the public at large.

"Although parliamentary rules allow them, provided they are declared, parliamentarians should consider whether accepting treats from private interests shows good judgement. When in doubt, it is better to err on the side of caution."