UEFA investigates club ownership

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English Premier League club Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich could be forced to end his association with CSKA Moscow after UEFA said it will consider changes to its rules on club ownership.

CSKA, who are sponsored by Abramovich's company Sibneft, played Chelsea in last season's UEFA Champions League. "We are concerned about the current development in European football when it comes to ownership," said UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson. "There's a risk that the credibility of our competition is in jeopardy." Olsson added: "We already have in our club licensing system that one person is not allowed to own more than one club in the same competition. It's become more sophisticated now - there could be that an owner of one club is the main sponsor of another and have a major impact on that club. That's something we are looking at. We are looking at whether major sponsors should be seen as a form of ownership or not. We have to abide by EU rules but it could be turned into a sporting rule. If we have owners of more than one club or individuals with power over more than one club in the same competition people ask themselves are the results fair. We have to be very careful."