Lynette Horsburgh, BBC North West 19/05/2026 6comments  |  Jump to last

Sarvar Ismailov, nephew of Alisher Usmanov, was briefly appointed to the Board of Directors at Everton FC back in 2019, but has lost his sanctions challenge in the High Court after claiming that it was "outrageously unfair" that he was being sanctioned "simply for being his uncle's nephew".

Ismailov, who was born in Uzbekistan, joined Everton in 2019 and took up a position on the club's board in the summer of 2021, but stood down from this role and other positions at the club that November after being charged with a criminal offence, which was later dropped.

Ismailov's assets were frozen when he was sanctioned in July 2022, months after the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia that had triggered the sanctioning of his uncle and Russian oligarch, Alisher Usmanov, who had been a major Everton sponsor through his close relationship with former owner Farhad Moshiri.

The Foreign Office defended the claim, with its barristers telling the High Court in London that sanctioning people based on familial relations "serves several rational and legitimate purposes".

Mr Justice Pushpinder Saini dismissed Ismailov's claim, finding the Foreign Office was "uniquely well-placed to assess whether sanctions decisions would achieve their intended purpose" and that the decision was not "irrational".

» Read the full article at BBC North West

Reader Comments (6)

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Gaute Lie
1 Posted 19/05/2026 at 09:35:29
Yeah. I bet he would be appointed if he was not his uncle's nephew.
What a moron!
Peter Gorman
2 Posted 19/05/2026 at 18:38:06
What an absolute stain on our club.
Si Cooper
3 Posted 19/05/2026 at 23:37:55
Gaute, I don’t think he is in the courts complaining about leaving the Everton board.

Peter, I don’t think much of any oligarch and I’m glad we are not associated with anyone who can’t/ won’t denounce Putin, but why ‘absolute stain’?

Plenty of legitimate businesses have benefited from the largesse of the dubiously wealthy and whilst Usmanov clearly has big question marks against him he wasn’t sanctioned until Russia invaded Ukraine and the ties with the club were then severed, as was appropriate.
Frank Worrall
4 Posted 20/05/2026 at 17:38:36
A bit of hypocrisy here? No mention of Chelsea and Abramovich, who was a mate of Putin and used his association to rake in millions! As far as I'm aware, Usmanov's nephew has not been involved in anything shady and is a victim of the the Foreign Office's virtue signalling.
Peter Gorman
5 Posted 20/05/2026 at 20:27:53
Yes Frank, as far as you are aware, which I imagine is not very far.

"Simply being a nephew" isn't likely to be the reason for the sanctions now is it. Off the top of our collective head we know that Oligarchs move their money through extended family members. And put them in places where they can monitor and control it (hint), though I've no doubt his business school credentials were top notch.

Was it also a virtue signal to charge him with assault when he was accused of beating up a model?
Eric Myles
6 Posted 21/05/2026 at 00:52:17
Peter #5, the whole of the Russian people were sanctioned, not just those who were friends of Putin.

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