Gary Neville tears into "cowardly" Roman Abramovich for attempting Chelsea "con"

Gary Neville has accused Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich of attempting to "con" fans with a "cowardly" attempt to remove himself from the spotlight.

The Manchester United legend launched a withering attack on the Russian oligarch after he released a rare statement on Saturday announcing he was relinquishing "stewardship and care" of the Blues to the club's charitable foundation.

Abramovich's decision came after there were calls for him to be banned from owning Chelsea amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine instigated by his compatriot, Vladimir Putin.

It also leaves caretaker control of the club in the hands of six trustees, namely chairman Bruce Buck, lawyer John Devine, Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes, former Kick It Out CEO Piara Power, director of finance Paul Ramos and politician Sir Hugh Robertson.

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However, Neville claims this supposed change of regime is merely a smokescreen which aims to lessen the intense speculation regarding Abramovich.

The former England defender declared on Sky Sports "it's quite clear" the six trustees are "not going to be running Chelsea Football Club" while covering the Blues' Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

Neville added: "I thought it was to be fair a cowardly approach to sort of throw a hospital pass to good people on the charitable and foundation board when it's quite clear he runs the club with Marina [Granovskaia, Chelsea director] and [technical and performance adviser] Petr Cech on the football side."

Abramovich has not stated whether or not he supports Putin's decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine. Chelsea released a conspicuously short statement on Sunday morning in which they described the situation in Ukraine as "horrific and devastating" but made no reference to the invading nation.

Neville claims Abramovich would have been far better off addressing the conflict in his own statement rather than merely handing over temporary control of running the club.

"If he wanted to make a statement of any note it would of been whether he supports the war at Ukraine or he actually doesn't support the war at Ukraine," Neville said of the Russian.

The pundit also described the scenes before Saturday's Premier League clash between Everton and Manchester City as "incredibly moving".

Ukraine internationals Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko shared an emotional embrace ahead of kick-off and the two teams emerged from the tunnel bearing the country's flag.

Abramovich has a long-standing relationship with Putin and Neville believes the situation unfolding in Eastern Europe will be "uncomfortable" for the Chelsea owner - who purchased the club in 2003 - as well as those associated with him.