Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has had his assets frozen and been handed an EU travel ban over the invasion of Ukraine in a move that could affect Everton.

A number of countries and organisations, including the EU, have laid down sanctions against Russia over the invasion.

The former part-owner of Arsenal has commercial ties to Everton.

And now Premier League Everton may find themselves caught up in it due to USM Holding, the company that sponsors their training ground.

It is owned by Alisher Usmanov and he has now had his assets frozen by the EU as well as a travel ban.

An EU Council statement said: “Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.”

It added that he “actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine”.

On Tuesday, Usmanov made a statement on the website of the International Fencing Federation, an organisation of which he is president, calling the EU’s decision to impose restrictions on him “unfair”.

He said he would “use all legal means to protect my honour and reputation”.

The EU has frozen the assets and imposed a travel ban on more than half a dozen of Russia’s most prominent oligarchs, including Mikhail Fridman, Igor Sechin, Nikolai Tokarev, and now Alisher Usmanov.

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