FanNation Futbol

Chelsea Legend John Terry Slammed In UK Parliament Over Roman Abramovich Tweet

John Terry has been criticized in UK parliament after the former Chelsea captain praised Roman Abramovich on Twitter.

Robert Summerscales

Chelsea Legend John Terry Slammed In UK Parliament Over Roman Abramovich Tweet
Chelsea Legend John Terry Slammed In UK Parliament Over Roman Abramovich Tweet /

John Terry has been criticized in UK parliament after the former Chelsea captain praised Roman Abramovich online.

Terry posted a picture of himself and Abramovich holding the Premier League trophy together, taken after Chelsea had won the competition in the 2016/17 season.

Terry, who won the Premier League five times during Abramovich's reign as Chelsea owner, captioned the picture on Twitter with the words "The Best", followed by three blue heart emojis.

The post came less than 24 hours after Abramovich announced his intention to sell Chelsea via a statement published on the club's official website.

In the statement Abramovich said that he "will not be asking for any loans to be repaid." He also vowed to pass on "all net proceeds" from the sale to a new charitable foundation to help "all victims of the war in Ukraine".

This was the first time that Abramovich had publicly addressed the ongoing war in Ukraine since Russian president Vladimir Putin launched an invasion last week.

Abramovich has come under scrutiny from UK politicians for his alleged links to Putin.

Labour Member of Parliament Chris Bryant revealed in parliament last week that Abramovich had been flagged as a person of interest by the UK's Home Office three years ago due to alleged links to the Russian state.

"I've got hold of a leaked document from 2019, from the Home Office, which says in relation to Mr Abramovich: 'As part of HMG's [Her Majesty's government] Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices,'" Bryant told the House of Commons.

Bryant went on to allege that Abramovich had previously admitted to paying for "political influence", before suggesting that the Russian should have some of his assets seized and should not be allowed to own Chelsea FC.

Abramovich denies having links to Putin's regime but it is understood that his motivation for selling Chelsea swiftly may be to avoid any sanctions that could be imposed upon him.

A week after his first speech on Abramovich, Bryant turned his attention to Terry on Thursday.

Bryant said in the House of Commons: "He has posted a photo with Abramovich who is one of Putin's cronies.

"What will the people of Ukraine think of the former England football captain?"

Terry also received a lot of calls from fellow social media users to delete his post.

One told him to "Try thinking of other people for a change", while another wrote: "You should be ashamed. This is not a time to glorify a oligarch."

MP Bryant also addressed Terry on Twitter, writing: I think @JohnTerry26 you should take this down ASAP. The people of Ukraine are being bombed, shelled and murdered while you celebrate Abramovich".

Nine hours of posting the picture, Terry had not taken it down.

But he posted a Ukraine flag on his Instagram story six hours later along with the words: "Pray for Ukraine".

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is hugged by team captain John Terry after winning the Champions League in 2012
Roman Abramovich and John Terry hugged after Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012 :: IMAGO/Owen Humphreys
Published
Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.

Home/News