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Thursday 26 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
In this file photo dated Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich sits in his box before the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge stadium in London. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli official says Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has received Israeli citizenship after his British visa was not renewed.
The official, from Israel's Immigration Ministry, says the Chelsea football club owner arrived in Israel on Monday. Israel grants automatic citizenship to anyone of Jewish descent.
The official was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another official told Channel 10 News that Abramovich submitted a citizenship request "like any other person" with Israel's Moscow embassy and was accepted.
Britain said this month it would review long-term visas of rich Russians after the March poisonings of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. Britain has accused Russia of exposing them to a nerve agent. Moscow denies the charge.
