Republican senators in Washington DC are requesting the US State Department include Alisher Usmanov on a blacklist of oligarchs with alleged ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

US Sens. Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio are urging the US State Department to consider adding Usmanov to the blacklist. They claim the Arsenal co-owner has links to “significant acts of corruption”, and “may have violated America’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”.

The list is an ‘advisory document’ detailing oligarchs considered to have close links with the Kremlin. On its own, it’s just a collection of names, and doesn’t do anything. However, those on the list could face sanctions at a later date.

They will ‘almost certainly’ have to undergo compliance checks whenever they want to work with Western companies, says a report in Quartz, who also mention the recent Paradise Papers which mentioned Usmanov.

As we explored at the time, the BBC investigated the billionaire’s involvement in Everton FC. They alleged the 64-year-old broke Premier League rules by “gifting” Farhad Moshiri money to invest in the Toffees. Both Moshiri and Usmanov deny this.

The results of the senators’ request will be revealed when the US Treasury publish the list on January 29th.

The letter, which was signed by Senator Roger F. Wicker, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Cory Gardner and Senator Lindsey Graham, and sent to Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State, can be read below: