Chelsea owner Abramovich and Rosneft boss Sechin sanctioned by UK

The action puts on ice Abramovich's plans to sell the Premier League club

Britain imposed sanctions on Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich and Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Russian oil giant Rosneft, hitting them with asset freezes and travel bans because of their links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two billionaires plus Oleg Deripaska and four other Russian oligarchs are the most high-profile businessmen to be added to the British sanctions list since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and follows criticism that Britain has been acting too slowly.

The action puts on ice Abramovich's plans to sell the Premier League club, effectively putting the current European champions under government control. The team can carry on playing but the government said it was open to selling the club so long as Abramovich himself did not benefit.