It didn’t matter the Chelsea dropped 5 on Roy Keane’s Sunderland side this morning as Roman Abramovich made it clear that his aim of balancing Chelsea’s books by 2010 was still on the forefront.

Via the DailyMail

A Chelsea spokesman confirmed that the Stamford Bridge club had reduced their worldwide scouting group from 25 to just 10, adding: ‘We are restructuring our scouting network in order to re-focus priorities on key targets and in key territories.’

Image via lh5

UK High Court Judge Mr. Justice Christopher Clarke has claimed that Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich’s ownership in Chelsea is just a “hobby and leisure interest” during his courts initial hearing of a case brought against Abramovich by Yugraneft, a bankrupt Russian Oil Company that is claiming it was defrauded out of a 50% Siberian Oil Field stake.

Ruling that the case can not be heard in the UK because of the lack of time spent there, Justice Clark brought about the 2003 purchase and subsequent 600 Million Pound Abramovich pumped into Chelsea saying “It is not a business investment. The sums that Mr Abramovich has given to the club far exceed any return that could possibly be expected.”

image via Deadspin

We have posted a lot on here about Roman Abramovich and how he likes to spend his money. From football, to art, real estate to mega yachts, Abramovich knows how to spend some serious scratch.  Looks like some of his free spending ways might start to slow though with reports that the gloabl economic crisis has wiped $20 billion from his personal net worth! Yes, that is $20 billion…gone.  It is reported he is still worth an estimated $3.5 billion, but that is a serious amount of evaporated money. At what point will this start to have an effect on the type of money he is putting into Chelsea? You can’t lose that kind of money without taking a hard look at all of your investments.

Oh, and according to Bloomberg,  Russian billionaires “have lost more than $230 billion in five months.”Wowzers…

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s new yacht, The Eclipse, will soon be the world’s largest when completed (at 555 feet, 2/3rds the length of the Titanic) and will cost $350 million dollars. The Eclipse will also come with a military grade anti-ballistic missile defense system and armor plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich’s master suite, as well as bullet-proof windows. There will also be a submarine that can be launched underwater and dive to a depth of 160 ft. that doubles as an escape pod, as well as two helicopter pads.

Reports of the yacht being stored in a giant mid-ocean lair which rises from the sea are unconfirmed…

[Luxist]

Image via Planteagadget

Numero uno is FIFA’s president Joseph Blatter, and they give a great quote from Sepp:

“FIFA is like the United Nations but it has more members and is more powerful”

Six of the top ten most powerful global figures have soccer ties including Becks clocking in at No. 5, Roman Abramovic at No. 6, and Cristiano at 7. Herbert Hanier the president of Adidas is No. 4 and Michel Platini UEFA president is 8. Click on this link for the slideshow and complete coverage from Business Week.

photo. getty images

I.Shouldve.Played.Soccer

With all the money and hype surrounding Man City’s new owners, and the potential of Sheikh Mohammed to drop some serious cash to get a hold of Liverpool, let’s not forget the Premier League’s Original Billionaire / Oil Tycoon…Mr. Roman Abramovich.  The latest Vanity Fair has their annual Top 100 list, aka The New Establishment, aka the world’s most powerful and influential people. And coming in at number 8 was Roman, jumping up from number 20 last year. Aside from his massive art and real estate holdings, his ownership of Chelsea (they didn’t mention that one, but I had to) VF notes that Abramovich will getting back into politics, and this time in a much more high profile position. Gotta be nice for Chelsea having one of the world’s richest and most powerful people as your owner.

In a scathing attack on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Bayern Munich General Manager Uli Hoeness declared via the Daily Mail that ‘Thanks to the huge investments many clubs make, there are no longer any serial European Cup winners similar  to Ajax and Bayern in the Seventies.

‘The old hierarchy has been abolished.  A better-balanced competition sounds tempting, but I don’t know whether the investments have been good for football.  I get annoyed every week when I go to fill my car up with petrol. The oil Mafia is taking money out of my pocket to invest it in footballers.

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If you have some seriously deep pockets, and I’m talking Roman Abramovich type scratch, then you might want to consider a trip on the Princess Mariana. This mega yacht was built in 2003, underwent a $12 million refurbishment in 2006, and can be your rental for the massive price tag of  $606,500 a week, or roughly $1 per second. I could go on and describe to you all the amenities that this beautiful yacht has to offer, but I can’t get past the $1 per second price tag. Silliness… Check out some pics after the jump.

[Via Born Rich]

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