Persona non grata in the United Kingdom, Chelsea FC Owner Roman Abramovich has not seen his team play live and in person- until tonight.
Yes, it was just a friendly, and every competitive match for Chelsea this season except one (London derby Europa League Final versus Arsenal on the 29th) has been played, but hey, the Russian oligarch is finally in the house. Abramovich was on hand at Gillette Stadium for Chelsea’s charity match against the New England Revolution.
Roman Abramovich is at the Gillette Stadium tonight for the #FinalWhistleOnHate match. First time he has been at a Chelsea game this season.
?Robert Kraft, Roman Abramovitch, and Bruce Arena. What a photo. #NERevs
Credit ? goes to @MattyJollie#cfc #CFCinBoston #ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/TEiRCcrNmE
— BlueSoldiers FC ?? (@BlueSoldiersFC) May 16, 2019
Branded the “Final Whistle on Hate” all proceeds from this match will go to charities fighting the scourge of AntiSemitism. Given what a great cause this is all for, it’s a really a shame that the stadium, located about halfway between Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, was so empty.
As of this writing, in the 72′, Chelsea leads 3-0 on the strength of a Ross Barkley brace and an Olivier Giroud goal.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/1128824413523197953
This was really good of Roman Abramovich to do, to go ahead and stage this match. I am now done saying nice things about Roman Abramovich.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.