The government has been urged to hasten the delivery to charitable causes of £2.34bn raised from the sale of Chelsea football club last year.
A foundation has now been set up to receive and distribute money from the sale, however the funds remain subject to financial sanctions.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The Charity Commission has given advice to support the establishment of the independent foundation intended to receive the proceeds of sale from Chelsea FC which are currently subject to financial sanctions.
“The Commission’s role as regulator is to ensure that organisations entered onto the register of charities meet the legal definition of a charity and that trustees comply with their legal duties. When an application is received, it will be assessed against the legal framework for charitable status.”
Action Against Hunger UK said last week that while “humanitarian needs soar across the world due to the forces of conflict, climate change and ever-rising food prices” the money “languishes in a frozen bank account”.
Money still ‘languishes in frozen bank account’
In March 2022, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich announced that he was selling the football club, promising that he would donate the proceeds to a new foundation set up to help victims of the war in Ukraine.
As part of the £4.25bn takeover that took place in May last year, £2.34bn was due to be distributed by the foundation, reportedly set up by Mike Penrose, former executive director of Unicef UK.
Kate Munro, head of advocacy at Action Against Hunger UK, said that “if the funds from the sale of Chelsea FC are not urgently released, it will lead to more than the current 10% of the world’s population going hungry each night”.
“Whilst humanitarian needs soar across the world due to the forces of conflict, climate change and ever-rising food prices, over £2.34bn from the sale of Chelsea FC languishes in a frozen bank account. The money is committed to meeting humanitarian needs arising from the war in Ukraine. However, the UK government and EU have not consented to this money supporting people beyond Ukraine’s borders, in addition to in Ukraine,” she said.
“With aid budgets being slashed throughout the world, the money from the sale is a significant amount which could help to turn the tide on some of the biggest crises of our lifetime. For instance, UK humanitarian aid to South Sudan has fallen from around £100m a year in 2018 to under £19m – this is despite over nine million people in humanitarian need, and tens of thousands of refugees and returnees arriving in the country due to the war over the border in Sudan.”
‘Meeting these needs must be a priority’
Munro added that meeting the basic needs of people affected by the war in Ukraine, such as food, shelter and clean water, “must be a priority for the new fund”.
“Across east Africa meanwhile – where humanitarian needs are rising due to conflict and climate change – the impact of rising food and fuel prices from the conflict in Ukraine is putting additional pressure on millions of people.
“There are also over eight million refugees from Ukraine across Europe, who cannot benefit from this fund if the money can only be spent within the country.”
Foreign secretary: Better to ‘do it right rather than quick’
At a press conference last week, foreign secretary James Cleverly said “with regard to the recent funds from Chelsea, a foundation has been created that will ultimately be responsible for the distribution of all those funds”.
“We are talking about very, very large sums, and I made it very, very clear that I want to make sure that those funds are distributed effectively and to support the Ukrainian victims of this conflict.
“And it is better, when such significant funds are at stake, that we do it right rather than trying to do it quick.”
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