Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, is reportedly unable to pay the required £10,000 rent to Queen Elizabeth over the land where his mansion is built.
The billionaire oligarch was hit with hefty sanctions by the UK government this week that saw his assets, including Chelsea football club, frozen for his alleged relationship with Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
But the problems continue for the Russian businessman, as he is allegedly unable to pay rent for the land belonging to the Queen on which his £107million mansion is located.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Abramovich is therefore at risk of losing yet another sizeable asset on UK soil.
Abramovich’s 15-room London home is within walking distance of Kensington Palace, home to Prince William.
The oligarch is the owner of the stunning mega mansion, but owes the Queen a £10,000 yearly sum under a 125-year lease due to the land belonging to the Crown Estate.
The sum will reportedly rise to £160,000-a-year at a later date. But while his enormous wealth previously meant the rent was a non-issue, sanctions preventing oligarch money being accepted has landed Abramovich in another sticky situation.
The Blues owner was aware of the risk in recent months and attempted to sell the property to no avail.
It is understood that if the sanctions remain in place and Abramovich is unable to pay the Queen, the Crown Estate can sue him and confiscate the property.
It follows the Russian being unable to sell Chelsea for a profit while the club is also extremely limited in their income sources and expenditure.
Abramovich suffered more humiliation this week after being disqualified as a director of the Stamford Bridge side by the Premier League.
