Premier League football club Chelsea has signed a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency trading and lending platform WhaleFin.

According to the Financial Times, the deal will be worth £20m and will feature the trading platform logo on the sleeves of the team’s jerseys from next season.

At the time of writing, Chelsea owner Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is awaiting approval from the UK authorities for the sale of the club. Led by American financier Todd Boely, buyers are ready to pay £2.5 billion.

Abramovich is forced to sell the club due to the sanctions imposed on him for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He will not be able to use the proceeds, which will go to a private government account and go to charities.

According to the publication, Chelsea and WhaleFin reached an agreement in January before the war started.

This is not the first time that leading English football clubs have partnered with cryptocurrency companies. In February, Manchester United signed a multi-year deal with blockchain platform Tezos.

In March, bitcoin exchange OKX (formerly OKEx) signed a sponsorship deal with league champions Manchester City. Prior to this, the club had refused to cooperate with the 3Key crypto project due to community backlash.

WhaleFin is owned by Singapore-based cryptocurrency firm Amber Group.

Recall that the Asian firm raised $200 million with a valuation of $3 billion in February. Temasek Holding led the investment round.

In May, it was learned that Amber Group was negotiating new financing, as a result of which the value of the company could reach 10 billion dollars.