Roman Abramovich still committed to Chelsea, insists Blues chairman Buck

CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich is still committed to the Blues, chairman Bruce Buck has insisted. The Russian billionaire, 52, has not attended any games at Stamford Bridge since being denied a visa in May last year and subsequently leaving London for Israel. It emerged on Wednesday that Abramovich had previously paid more than £1million to […]

CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich is still committed to the Blues, chairman Bruce Buck has insisted.

The Russian billionaire, 52, has not attended any games at Stamford Bridge since being denied a visa in May last year and subsequently leaving London for Israel.

AP:Associated Press

It emerged on Wednesday that Abramovich had previously paid more than £1million to secure his private box at Stamford Bridge – but had not done so this season.

American chairman Buck said: “Everything he’s doing reaffirms his commitment to Chelsea.

“We hear from him several times a day and he’s talking to us about players, commercial activities and our good causes.

“So I would say he’s committed to Chelsea.”

Buck also spoke of Abramovich’s committment to to fighting anti-Semitism and racism at the club.

Abramovich has also made a donation to the Imperial War Museum’s new Holocaust Galleries, which open in 2021.

Buck added: “It was his idea and he’s checking in with us regularly as to how it’s going and what we’re doing and what effect we’re having, so yes it’s very important to him.”

As SunSport revealed in October, Chelsea sent fans, players and staff to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in an effort to educate them about the Holocaust.

Buck explained: “We had a couple of incidents and we were very unhappy with it, particularly since the club now is very focused on a project thanks to the impetus from Roman Abramovich of tackling anti-Semitism.

“We just wanted to make it clear to those very few fans who are acting inappropriately that we have a very strong position on this issue. That’s the main reason why we have this project. We’ve got to do our share to do something about it.”