James Cleverly, the UK Foreign Secretary, has urged Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, to look into any possibility of whether he helped wealthy Russians it has sanctioned move their assets to the UAE.
In a letter to Cleverly, attorneys for a Ukrainian activist who prefers to maintain her anonymity out of concern for retaliation from Russia have enquired as to whether any investigations have been made to assess whether Mansour should be listed as a "designated person" subject to financial penalties.
The new Premier League guidelines on its owners' and directors' test, issued in March, would exclude HE as an owner if HE is identified as a person subject to Government sanctions.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UK Government has reported that more than 1,800 people have been sanctioned under the laws, more than 1,600 of them under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Roman Abramovich, the previous owner of Chelsea, has one of his assets, Chelsea, blocked. A consortium formed by American billionaire Todd Boehly took control of Chelsea last summer.
Following a first letter submitted to Cleverly on behalf of their client by attorneys Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers and Ben Keith of 5, St. Andrew's Hill Chambers in September of last year, the request for an update on Sheikh Mansour was made.
The new letter has been sent as the UAE prepares to host the COP28 climate change conference between November 30 and December 12, noting that Sheikh Mansour is likely to play a “visible role” in the event.
“The bloodshed caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, and many Russian oligarchs appear to have found a home for their wealth in the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi being particularly attractive to those individuals.”
