'They had been poisoned' - Chelsea insider reveals how ex-Blues owner Roman Abramovich was rendered 'blind' and left in 'searing pain' following suspected poisoning

Author and journalist Nick Purewal has written in his new book, 'Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC', about the night in 2022 when Abramovich was the victim of a suspected poisoning. He revealed how the Russian billionaire, who sold Chelsea later that year, passed out not long after eating some pre-prepared food ahead of preparing for peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border in March of that year. Although he and two others went to hospital, after complaining that their "skin was peeling", Abramovich continued with his schedule the next day, despite the doctor's orders.

Purewal said on talkSPORT: "He met with people in Poland, and then he went to Kiev, Ukraine, and he had more meetings lined up. They travel through the night, had to drive in but it's through a live war zone. There were lots of checks, quite dangerous. They get there, three of them went to an apartment. Some food had been prepared, so they sat down, ate the food. He stepped into another room for a phone call, and then the next thing he remembers is waking up hours later in pitch black and being blind with searing pain in his eyes and his face. The hair was falling out of his arms, and his skin was peeling off his hands and face. They all had the same symptoms, and they had to go to a hospital for emergency treatment. It was later confirmed they had been poisoned."

Abramovich owned Chelsea for 19 years before the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium relieved him of that title just over three years ago. He brought the Blues unprecedented success but after his involvement with the Russian government, following their invasion of Ukraine, his position at the club was untenable.

Abramovich, who was granted a special licence to sell Chelsea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, could be sued by the UK government to make sure the money (£2.5 billion in proceeds) from the Blues' sale goes to Ukraine.