Chelsea have called on the Football Association to move Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final to Middlesbrough.stream live at 1:10 pm ET on ESPN+ in the US.) behind closed doors for reasons of “sporting integrity” after they were denied the opportunity to sell tickets to away fans.
Chelsea are operating under severe restrictions imposed by a special license issued to the club so that they can continue to play matches and pay staff despite being a frozen asset of owner Roman Abramovich, one of seven Russian oligarchs against whom the UK government Thursday imposed sanctions for alleged ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Among the restrictions is a ban on the sale of tickets to fans outside season tickets, as well as those sold individually before the announcement of sanctions.
Chelsea have been in dialogue with the government to ease restrictions – with some success as they raised the £500,000 home game spending limit to £900,000, among other concessions – but released a statement on Tuesday which stated their frustration with the lack of progress elsewhere.
Around 600 Chelsea fans bought tickets before Thursday’s close, sources told ESPN, but the team now wants Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium empty for Saturday’s game.
“We are disappointed to announce that we will not be able to sell tickets for Saturday’s FA Cup match at Middlesbrough,” Chelsea said in a statement.
“Despite extensive discussions with the Office for the Implementation of Financial Sanctions (OFSI), the deadline for the purchase of exit tickets has passed, and the corresponding amendments to the state license have not been made, which will allow full accommodation of Chelsea fans.
“Middlesbrough management were kind enough to extend the deadline for ticket sales and stadium allocation from 7:30pm last night to 9:30am. [on Tuesday] morning.
“It is important to the competition that the match against Middlesbrough takes place, but we are extremely reluctant to ask the FA Board to direct that the game be played behind closed doors for reasons of sporting integrity.
“Chelsea FC is aware that this outcome will have a huge impact on Middlesbrough and its supporters, as well as our own supporters who have already bought a limited number of tickets sold before the license was introduced, but we believe this is the fairest. course of action under the circumstances.
“We will continue to discuss ticket sales with OFSI as there are still a number of matches to be played this season and we hope to reach a decision.”
The FA responded with a brief statement which read: “We are aware of Chelsea’s request to play the FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough behind closed doors. This issue will be discussed at a meeting of the Council of Professional Games. [on Wednesday].”