The change of ownership at Chelsea is under a huge risk of collapsing despite the Todd Boehly consortium agreeing on a deal to buy the club.
The UK government does not trust Roman Abramovich's claims he would write off the £1.5bn loan and would donate the proceeds from the £2.5bn sale to victims of the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian oligarch is supposedly not ready to provide binding assurances he would do that.
"There's quite serious concern in Government that the deal may fall apart and that Roman Abramovich is ultimately willing to let Chelsea go under," an unnamed UK government insider said, as quoted by the BBC.
"Two big sticking points remain - where exactly the proceeds of the sale will be held, and what legal guarantees government will be given about the money going to good causes.
"Essentially, despite committing to all proceeds going to good causes in public, Abramovich seems unwilling to give the same legal commitments, which would have backed up his public statements of about a week ago, that in the deal neither he nor his affiliates could basically try and stake a claim to that unpaid debt between Fordstam and Camberley.
"A deal which would allow the cash to be diverted during the deal would be a breach of sanctions and is seen as a red line for ministers.
"There are deadlines at the end of this month and the start of June, which would either see the club booted out of European competition or the Premier League entirely. But a good chunk of the sale needs to be done this week or next."
