Ex-Chelsea chairman Bates slams UK government over seize: You're a laughing stock! | OneFootball

Former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates has slammed the UK government's seizing of the club from Roman Abramovich.

Bates sold Chelsea to Abramovich in 2003.

“The fact that you can't buy a Chelsea match programme must mean that [Vladimir] Putin is s*****g himself and all the ordinary people of Moscow are hiding in their cellars because they can't see a Chelsea match on TV," Bates told the Daily Mail.

“As usual, it is the ordinary people who are suffering. You've probably got people working at Chelsea saying do they have a job? What is their future? Do they have security?

“And [the] fans at Chelsea. What have they got to do with Putin bombing maternity hospitals in Ukraine?

“That is hurting ordinary, English citizens. Makes no difference at all to Russia. It makes the Civil Service a laughing stock of the world. I've dealt with civil servants most of my life and, by and large, they're all bloody useless.

“Abramovich turned around and said, 'I'm going sell the club and whatever I get I'm going to give to charity.'

“They (the government) have taken over the club. Fine. Why didn't they appoint an administrator and get on with it?

“Instead, we've got all these regulations, which just get some good headlines. 'England takes firm action against Russia.'

“If we are trying to help Ukraine we should be doing things that are meaningful."