Ex-Everton director loses High Court appeal against Russia sanctions | OneFootball

A former director of Everton Football Club has failed in a High Court challenge against the Foreign Office over sanctions linked to his billionaire uncle’s ties to Vladimir Putin.

Sarvar Ismailov was sanctioned by the Foreign Office in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine alongside his brother, Sanjar, due to being the nephew of Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

He asked ministers to review their decision in 2023, and while the wording of the designation under sanction laws was amended in 2024, he remained sanctioned.

Mr Ismailov’s lawyers told a hearing earlier this month the decision was “outrageously unfair” and that he was being sanctioned “simply for being his uncle’s nephew”.

The Foreign Office defended the claim, with its barristers telling the court in London that sanctioning people based on familial relations “serves several rational and legitimate purposes”.

In a ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Saini dismissed the claim, finding that the Foreign Office was “uniquely well placed to assess whether sanctions decisions would achieve their intended purpose” and that the decision was not “irrational”.

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Sarvar Ismailov was sanctioned by the Foreign Office in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine alongside his brother, Sanjar, due to being the nephew of Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov (Social media)

The judge also accepted in his 46-page ruling that it was “reasonable to assume” that Mr Ismailov could “exert pressure” on his uncle and that the decision to continue sanctioning him was “plainly connected” with the objectives of the sanctions scheme, including showing that there were “negative consequences” to associating with those with ties to Russia.

He said: “The question is not whether the claimant’s designation will of itself bring the conflict to an end.

“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 continued: “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.”

Mr Ismailov, who was born in Uzbekistan, joined Everton in 2019 and took up a position on the club’s board in the summer of 2021, but stood down from this role and other positions at the club that November after being charged with a criminal offence, which was later dropped.

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Mr Ismailov, who was born in Uzbekistan, joined Everton in 2019 and took up a position on the club’s board in the summer of 2021, but stood down from this role and other positions at the club that November after being charged with a criminal offence, which was later dropped (PA Archive)

His barrister, Hugo Keith KC, said in written submissions earlier this month that Mr Ismailov moved to the UK aged 13 and had never lived in Russia as an adult, had no political profile or connections in the country, and had no relationship or access to Mr Putin or anyone else in the Russian government.

He also said there was no evidence that Mr Ismailov had ever supported the Russian government or the war in Ukraine, telling the court that there was an “utter purposelessness” of sanctioning his client and that the decision was “plainly irrational” and “capricious”.

Jason Pobjoy KC, for the Foreign Office, said in written submissions that the decision to maintain sanctions against Mr Ismailov was open to the department, despite the “significant impact” on him, as it “furthers the overarching purpose of the sanctions regime”.

He also said that the Foreign Office had a “broad margin of discretion” in sanction decisions, and that there was “no tenable basis” to say that the decision was unlawful.