John Terry has come in for stern criticism in London's Houses of Parliament for his unquestioning support of Roman Abramovich.
After the Russian confirmed he was putting Chelsea up for sale, former captain Terry posted a picture of himself and Abramovich arm-in-arm with the caption 'the best'.
Abramovich has been effectively forced to sell Chelsea, with sanctions expected from the UK government owing to his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Some of his fellow oligarchs - including Alisher Usmanov - have seen their assets seized by the EU following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Labour MP Chris Bryant informed Parliament that Abramovich was putting his London properties up for sale with sanctions closing in.
It was the Rhonnda MP who raised Terry's online behaviour on Thursday, asking Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Nadine Dorries, if she would condemn the Chelsea coach's actions.
Former Chelsea captain John Terry's Twitter tribute to Roman Abramovich is criticised by Labour's Chris Bryant
On football, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries says: "We have tolerated the investment of Russian kleptocrats for far too long" https://t.co/nI66LUpQ4e pic.twitter.com/h0Q88zCX31— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) March 3, 2022
"I don't know whether she has seen this, but he has posted today a photo of himself with Roman Abramovich, who is one of Putin's cronies," said Bryant as Dorries shook her head in disbelief.
"What will the people of Ukraine think of the former England football captain?"
In response, Dorries said she couldn't name individuals in the same way that Bryant has, but added, "I know that the Foreign Office are working on sanctioning... he [Bryant] knows that the sanctions are the responsibility of the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office], he knows that the Foreign Office are working on those sanctions."
Dorries added, "In football, we have tolerated the investment of Russian Kleptocrats for far too long.
"And yesterday's announcement show [sic] that I think we have reached a turning point.
"We need to make sure that football clubs remain viable - that is an important point, that they remain viable.
"And we're bringing forward our response to the fan-led review as soon as I possibly can. And an independent regulator, and a fit and proper persons test for owners."
