A former senior official at English Premier League football club Everton has failed in a High Court legal bid to overturn UK government sanctions imposed over his family connection to a Kremlin-aligned Russian oligarch, a court has ruled.
Sarvar Ismailov, who once served on Everton’s board of directors, and his brother Sanjar were first added to the UK’s sanctions register in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The designation stemmed from their close familial tie to Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-Russian billionaire with long-documented links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After the initial imposition of sanctions, Ismailov requested a formal government review of his designation in 2023. While minor wording adjustments were made to his sanction listing in 2024, the restrictive measures against him remained in place, prompting him to launch a judicial challenge against the Foreign Office.
During the High Court hearing held earlier this month, Ismailov’s legal team argued that the continued sanctions were inherently unfair. They asserted that Ismailov was being penalized solely for his biological relation to Usmanov, a position they described as “outrageously unfair”.
In defending the government’s decision, barristers representing the Foreign Office told the London court that sanctioning individuals connected by family to targeted oligarchs serves multiple clear, rational and legitimate policy goals within the broader sanctions regime.
Delivering his 46-page ruling, Mr Justice Pushpinder Saini dismissed Ismailov’s legal challenge. The judge found that the Foreign Office holds unique institutional insight and position to evaluate whether sanctions measures will meet their intended policy objectives, and concluded that the department’s decision to maintain sanctions against Ismailov was not irrational.
Justice Saini further accepted that it was reasonable for the Foreign Office to infer that Ismailov retains the ability to exert influence over his uncle, Alisher Usmanov. He noted that the decision to keep Ismailov under sanction is clearly tied to the core objectives of the UK’s Russia sanctions regime, one of which is to demonstrate that any association with individuals linked to the Russian government will carry tangible negative consequences.
“The question is not whether the claimant’s designation will of itself bring the conflict to an end,” Justice Saini wrote. “Rather, the question is whether the measure is capable of contributing to the stated objective as part of the overall sanctions regime. The decision to maintain the designation of the claimant is so capable.”
He added: “The claimant’s designation, and others like him who are ‘associated with’ [Mr Usmanov], makes an important contribution to the overall cumulative impact of sanctions and enhances pressure on Russia in respect of its actions in Ukraine.”
Ismailov, who was born in Uzbekistan, joined Everton’s organizational structure in 2019 and was elevated to the club’s board of directors in mid-2021. However, he stepped down from all his positions at the club just months later that November, after facing a criminal charge that was ultimately dismissed.
Hugo Keith KC, Ismailov’s lead barrister, told the court that his client moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 13, has never resided in Russia as an adult, holds no political influence or connections within Russia, and has no personal relationship or access to President Putin or any senior member of the Russian government. Keith also stressed that there is no evidence to show Ismailov has ever supported the Russian government or its invasion of Ukraine, calling the continued sanctioning of his client “utterly purposeless,” “plainly irrational” and “capricious.”
Jason Pobjoy KC, representing the Foreign Office, countered that the department acted well within its legal authority in choosing to maintain sanctions against Ismailov. Even acknowledging the significant personal impact the measures have on Ismailov, Pobjoy argued that the decision advances the overarching policy goals of the UK’s sanctions regime against Russia. He added that the Foreign Office is granted a broad margin of discretion in making sanction designations, and there is no valid legal basis to overturn the department’s ruling.