Thomas Tuchel criticized Chelsea fans who broke the moment of applause for Ukraine by singing about their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. “Now is not the time to do that,” the Chelsea manager said of the chant that came from a sizable contingent of away support ahead of the Premier League game against Burnley. “If we show solidarity, we must show solidarity together.”
The gesture, which was met with hooting from Burnley fans, overshadowed a planned minute of applause for the Ukrainian people and was especially provocative given that the Chelsea owner has yet to condemn Vladimir Putin for his expansionist war in Ukraine.
Tuchel did not hesitate to condemn the singing, urging Chelsea fans to show more respect in such situations. “We kneel together, if a member of our club dies, we show respect,” he said. “Now is not the time to give other messages.
“We also do it because we are a club. We show respect and we need our fans to give this minute of applause at this moment.
“We are doing this for the people of Ukraine and there is no second opinion about the situation. They have our thoughts and our support and we have to stick together as a club.”
Some consolation for Tuchel was the fact that a tumultuous week in which Abramovich announced his intention to sell the club after losing the League Cup final ended with an FA Cup progress against Luton and a 4-0 win over Burnley.
“It shows great character,” he said of his players’ reactions. “It shows that the boys have everything they need to play for Chelsea and we have the conditions to focus on football because we are allowed to focus on football. The team performed very well and we kept believing.”
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Three Chelsea goals eight minutes into the break ended the game and Sean Dyche lamented the collapse of his side after a promising start. “This is the madness of football,” he said. “Giving in doesn’t mean you have to stop what you’re doing.
“We opened up too fast, stopped following all the fundamentals, physically lost a couple of challenges and were punished by a group of very talented players.”