Chelsea reached the Champions League quarter-finals last night but face playing their home leg behind closed doors while the club is still under Roman Abramovich’s ownership.
Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Lille 2-1 in France to advance 4-1 on aggregate, but will not be allowed to sell tickets for the home leg of their last-eight tie at Stamford Bridge after the sanctioning of Abramovich by the EU and the British government. Chelsea will learn their quarter-final opponents when the draw takes place tomorrow.
Chelsea have argued that it is unfair to play without their fans in stadiums and that it damages the integrity of the competition. That is unlikely to cut any ice with Uefa, however, given that it had several instances during the pandemic when because of different rules and restrictions in countries, one leg of ties was played with home fans present and the other behind closed doors.
Should Chelsea reach the Champions League final in Paris on May 28 still under the same ownership, then Uefa would sell tickets to the club’s fans directly as it already does that for the final. Gate receipts are not split between the finalists, as used to happen, but go into Uefa’s general pot for wider distribution.
Uefa has said that it is committed to implementing any EU sanctions but European football’s governing body is still seeking formal clarification from the union about the impact of its Abramovich ban on Chelsea. The club were named as one of four “associated entities” of Abramovich’s in the EU ruling but no special licence, such as the one that has been arranged in the UK, has been announced for Chelsea in Europe.
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As the Lille match had already been arranged and budgeted for before Tuesday’s EU announcement of sanctions, it is understood that Uefa was advised that the game could go ahead. There has been less certainty about what may happen in the quarter-finals.
Uefa has said that it is committed to implementing any EU sanctions but European football’s governing body is still seeking formal clarification from the union about the impact of its Abramovich ban on Chelsea. It has said that it will work with Chelsea to try to keep the club involved in the Champions League and the government has also been in touch with the EU to explain the details of its licence.
Chelsea were named as one of four “associated entities” of Abramovich’s in the EU ruling but no special licence, such as the one that has been arranged in the UK, has been announced for the club in Europe.
As the Lille match had already been arranged and budgeted for before Tuesday’s EU announcement of sanctions, it is understood that Uefa was advised the game could go ahead. There has been less certainty about what may happen should Chelsea progress to the quarter-finals and Uefa’s legal department is in touch with the EU about the full ramifications of the announcement.
A Uefa statement said: “Uefa is fully committed to always implementing relevant EU and international sanctions. Our understanding is that the present case is assessed in the context of the licence issued in the UK, which allows Chelsea FC to continue minimum football activity while providing a safeguard that no financial gain will result for Mr Abramovich.
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“We will work with the EU and relevant member states to ensure we have full clarity and remain in lockstep with all relevant and applicable measures in line with latest developments.
“Uefa will keep on working closely with, and support, the players, staff and fans of Chelsea during these difficult times to allow them to represent their colours on the pitch.”
The EU ruling states: “Roman Abramovich is a Russian oligarch who has long and close ties to Vladimir Putin. He has had privileged access to the president and has maintained very good relations with him. This connection with the Russian leader helped him to maintain his considerable wealth.”
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have sold out the 3,200 tickets that Chelsea were forced to return for their FA Cup quarter-final at the Riverside on Saturday because of government sanctions. Chelsea provoked widespread ridicule on Tuesday when they first asked the FA to play the tie behind closed doors and they soon withdrew the request.
Thomas Tuchel’s side had originally been given 4,500 tickets for the game. Just under 700 of those tickets had been sold before government sanctions were imposed on Abramovich.
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The Middlesbrough chairman and owner, Steve Gibson, called Chelsea’s request for the tie to be played behind closed doors “pathetic”, and on Wednesday the tickets that could no longer be sold to Chelsea fans went on sale to Middlesbrough supporters — all were sold by 5pm.
As is standard practice, Middlesbrough are believed to have emailed Chelsea offering tickets for their players and boardroom places for executive members of the club, but they are not expected to get a response until the end of the week.
Tuchel has distanced himself from the club’s attempt to play the game behind closed doors. “That was our [Chelsea’s] responsibility but not mine,” he said after the win over Lille. “We love to play in front of spectators. I don’t think that spectators or our opponents should suffer. It was not the greatest idea. Me and the team were not involved in that decision.”
