Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner slapped with sanctions that bar him from selling his $3 billion soccer club and place severe restrictions on the team

• Roman Abramovich has had his assets frozen by the UK government over his links to Vladimir Putin.
• The sanctions mean that he can't sell Chelsea FC, the London soccer team he owns.

Roman Abramovich, the billionaire Russian owner of Chelsea FC, has been sanctioned by the UK government as part of its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The 55-year-old has had his assets frozen and has been barred from making transactions with UK citizens and businesses.

He has also been handed a travel ban that forbids him from entering the UK.

The sanctions on Abramovich mean his proposed sale of Chelsea is no longer able to go ahead. The sanctions also place a number of restrictions on Chelsea's day-to-day operations:

• The club cannot sell new tickets to matches. Fans with existing tickets and season tickets can still attend games.
• Chelsea's club shop must be closed, and no merchandise may be sold.
• Chelsea cannot sign new players, should the sanctions still be in place during the next transfer window in July.
• Contracts for existing players cannot be extended.
• The club can only pay up to 20,000 pounds ($26,000) per game for travel costs.

Chelsea is still in this season's Champions League, which hosts games throughout Europe, and the travel budget for any overseas game would likely exceed that figure.

Last week, Abramovich announced his intention to sell the London club after almost two decades. The Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and the British property magnate Nick Candy were among those to declare an interest in a takeover.

Six other Russian oligarchs were also sanctioned by the UK government on Thursday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying, "There can be no safe havens" for those who have supported the invasion.

"Today's sanctions are the latest step in the UK's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people," Johnson said. "We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies."

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "Today's sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression.

"The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame."

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries acknowledged that the sanctions would affect Chelsea but said a special license would enable it to continue operating.

"Today's sanctions obviously have a direct impact on Chelsea and its fans. We have been working hard to ensure the club and the national game are not unnecessarily harmed by these important sanctions," Dorries tweeted.

"To ensure the club can continue to compete and operate we are issuing a special license that will allow fixtures to be fulfilled, staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches while, crucially, depriving Abramovich of benefiting from his ownership of the club," she continued.

Later Thursday, Chelsea suffered a fresh blow when its shirt sponsor, the cell network Three, requested that its logo be removed from the team's shirts and from around Chelsea's home stadium, Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich, who has an estimated net worth of $12.4 billion, has stakes in the steel giant Evraz and the smelting company Norilsk Nickel.

In 2005, he sold a 73% stake in the Russian oil firm Sibneft to the state-owned gas titan Gazprom for $13 billion.

Between 2000 and 2008, Abramovich served as governor of the Chukotka region of eastern Russia under Putin.

Chelsea did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.