Chelsea news LIVE: Club withdraw Middlesbrough request after backlash and Roman Abramovich sanctioned by EU

Chelsea in back and forth over FA Cup game against Boro, owner Roman Abramovich sanctioned further by EU and prospective buyers circle ahead of deadline

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich sanctioned by UK government amid Russian oligarch crackdown

Chelsea continue to deal with the fallout of owner Roman Abramovich being disqualified as a director of the club and sanctioned by the UK government for his links to Vladimir Putin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine as prospective buyers circle ahead of Friday’s deadline for a sale.

The London billionaire, and Blues fan, Nick Candy has emerged as one of the frontrunners to buy Chelsea and several rival suitors have approached the British property tycoon on joining the bid for the Stamford Bridge club.

The UK government initially brought sanctions against Abramovich last Thursday but despite the Russian’s assets being frozen, Chelsea were handed a new licence to continue “football-related activities” and are in negotiations with the government to amend some aspects of it.

The license does not allow Chelsea to sell tickets, however, and the the club released a statement on Tuesday requesting for their upcoming FA Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors after they were unable to sell any more tickets for the match. Middlesbrough responded with a furious statement while the club’s chairman, Steve Gibson, called Chelsea “pathetic” over the proposals.

However, in a dramatic U-Turn, the FA then confirmed that Chelsea had removed their request to play the match in an empty stadium. It comes as Chelsea prepare to face Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday, with manager Thomas Tuchel criticising Boris Johnson’s “priorities” after the Prime Ministers called on Blues supporters to stop chanting Abramovich’s name at matches.

Chelsea FC latest - Roman Abramovich

• Chelsea remove request for FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors after backlash
• Middlesbrough had labelled Chelsea’s request ‘pathetic’ and ‘bizarre and without merit’
• EU confirm sanctions against Abramovich to add to existing UK sanctions
• Nick Candy bid for Chelsea attracting support from rival suitors for the club
• Tuchel calls out PM Johnson over criticism of Abramovich chants
• Sports Minister wants ‘more robust’ Premier League owners’ test
• Abramovich disqualified as director of the club
• Saudi Media Group make £2.7bn bid to buy the club
• Government ‘open’ to sale if Abramovich doesn’t benefit from proceeds

[15 March 2022 13:50 · Jamie Braidwood]

Sports Minister says Government working to help Chelsea

Nigel Huddleston added that the Government are working to ensure Chelsea fans and the club are not harmed by the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich while insisting that top level sport can survive in the UK without Russian money.

“We are working with Chelsea and the fans that the measures we have put in place primarily impact Roman Abramovich and make sure he does not benefit, whilst making sure that where possible we can reduce the impact on the fans and make sure Chelsea can still continue.

“Can the Government allow an entity to fail? Yes it can, whether it’s sport or football or anything else, but what we want to do is make sure the impact of sanctions hits those we want.

“It’s not intended to harm other entities or the overall sports ecosystem.”

He continued: “There’s a lot of money in sport and a lot of money in football and I think we can manage perfectly well without Russian investment overall. There’s plenty of other investors around the world who we can work with.

“I really cannot see circumstances for quite a long period of time where we’re going to welcome that money back, I genuinely can’t.

“I don’t think it would be morally acceptable, it may in many cases not be legally possible because we’ll still have considerable sanctions imposed on many entities and I don’t think fans around the world, and in particular in this country, would find that acceptable either.”

[15 March 2022 13:30 · Jamie Braidwood]

FA respond to Chelsea’s FA Cup request

Statement from the FA: “We are aware of Chelsea FC’s request to play their Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final tie against Middlesbrough FC behind closed doors. The matter will be discussed at the Professional Game Board meeting tomorrow.”

More details, here:

[15 March 2022 13:18 · Jamie Braidwood]

Sports Minister wants ‘more robust’ Premier League owners’ test

Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston believes a “more robust” approach needs to be taken by the Premier League with regards to its owners’ and directors’ test.

The sanctioning of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by the UK Government and Premier League amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shone an uncomfortable light on who can take over at football clubs.

Huddleston would not be drawn on Government plans for the fan-led review of football or whether Abramovich had been good or bad for the sport.

But he told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee: “The Government did not make decisions relating to those acquisitions but they were subject to the Premier League’s own owners’ and directors’ tests.

“The Premier League are also assessing that test. We do recognise there is a need for further refinement and more robust owners’ and directors’ tests and the integrity element of that is something that is being pushed.”

On Abramovich, Huddleston added: “Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned and he has been sanctioned for a reason, because he has links to Vladimir Putin.

“That (sanctions) is a signal in itself that in terms of his fitness to run a club, that is clearly not the case now. In terms of historic investment, I can’t comment much further.”

More here:

[15 March 2022 13:03 · Jamie Braidwood]

Tuchel calls out PM Johnson over criticism of Abramovich chants

Thomas Tuchel has questioned Boris Johnson’s “priorities” after the Prime Minister urged Chelsea fans to stop chanting for owner Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea owner Abramovich has been sanctioned by the Government after Downing Street claimed to have proven the 55-year-old’s links to Vladimir Putin.

The majority of Chelsea fans drowned out chants for Abramovich in Sunday’s 1-0 Stamford Bridge win over Newcastle, but that has not stopped the Prime Minister from making his feelings clear.

When quizzed on Johnson’s call on Chelsea fans, Tuchel replied: “I just heard about it some minutes ago. I don’t know if, in these times, if it is the most important discussion to have in Parliament.

“I don’t know if fan chants being discussed in Parliament means that we have to worry about the priorities of this Government.

“But OK… Listen, no need to comment from me. We have really far more urgent things to discuss and handle.

“There are restrictions and we have to deal with it. There are adjustments in the amount of staff, who is travelling, how many rooms we have in hotels and how we arrive at matches.”

[15 March 2022 12:31 · Jamie Braidwood]

Chelsea request FA Cup game at Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors

Chelsea have asked for Saturday’s FA Cup match at Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors after confirming that they are unable to sell away tickets for the fixture due to the sanctions placed on owner Roman Abramovich.

A statement from Chelsea said that while the club “recognises that such an outcome would have a huge impact on Middlesbrough” they would be making the request to the FA as “sporting integrity” was at risk.

[15 March 2022 12:21 · Jamie Braidwood]

Chelsea request Middlesbrough game played behind closed doors

Chelsea have announced that they are unable to sell away tickets for Saturday’s match at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup and have asked for the fixture to be played behind closed doors.

In the past few minutes, the club said in a statement: “We are disappointed to announce we will not be able to sell tickets for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough.

“Despite engaging in extensive discussions with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), the deadline to purchase away tickets has passed without appropriate amendments being made to the Government licence which would allow a full allocation of Chelsea supporters to attend. Executives at Middlesbrough had been kind enough to extend their deadline for ticket sales and stadium allocation from 7.30pm last night until 9.30am this morning.

“It is important for the competition that the match against Middlesbrough goes ahead, however it is with extreme reluctance that we are asking the FA board to direct that the game be played behind closed doors for matters of sporting integrity. Chelsea FC recognises that such an outcome would have a huge impact on Middlesbrough and its supporters, as well as our own fans who have already bought the limited number of tickets that were sold before the licence was imposed, but we believe this is the fairest way of proceeding in the current circumstances.

“We will continue to discuss the issue of ticket sales with OFSI as there are a number of fixtures still to be played this season and we hope to reach a resolution.”

[15 March 2022 12:06 · Jamie Braidwood]

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz speaks ahead of Champions League match

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz followed Thomas Tuchel in speaking at a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League tie against Lille, and says he would be prepared to pay for his own travel if the Blues were hit by financial caps.

“The best we can do in the moment is to play good football, try to give the fans a smile in this kind of situation. Everything is tough for us in the moment but we can handle this situations,” Havertz said.

“There are harder things at work right now than if we have to take the bus or the plane to away games. I will pay. It’s not a problem.

“We all stand for peace and it is tough at the moment. Of course, people ask us because we are public people but I find it hard to answer these questions.”

[15 March 2022 11:57 · Jamie Braidwood]

Minister for Sport speaks at select committee

Huddleston: “We are working with Chelsea and the fans to ensure the impact is on Roman Abramovich and his ability to make money and where possible we can reduce the impact on fans and on Chelsea.

“Can the government allow an entity to fail? Yes it can. But we want to make sure sanctions impact the intended target . It is not intended to harm other entities. For Chelsea, that is why we have the license to allow them to continue to operate.

“With Chelsea, you seen the government recognise that the sanctions would have an impact while simultaneously and immediately make sure there was a license to survive and hopefully to be sold.”

[15 March 2022 11:51 · Jamie Braidwood]

Minister for Sport speaks at select committee

Huddleston says the sporting sanctions on Russia are likely to remain for “some time” and as long as Russia remains a “pariah” on the world stage.

When asked about football’s relationship with outside investment, he says: “There are problems both domestically and internationally about sport investment. There has been a wake-up call here, particularly when it comes to Russian investment. I think we are on the cusp on significant change. We will be setting up an independent regulator but I think other countries are looking at the way they view sponsorship.”

[15 March 2022 11:44 · Jamie Braidwood]

Minister for Sport speaks at select committee

Huddleston is asked about Newcastle's ownership of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and whether he received assurances over whether the Saudi Arabian government would be involved in the club.

“Any acquisition needs to be done legally and by the rules. The owners and directors test was applied by the league - so that is a question for the Premier League. There is a responsibility for sports governing bodies to keep their house in order. We recognise the failings and there is need for further intervention, which is why we have the fan-led review.” Huddleston refuses to answer any further questions and says he will write to the committee regarding the assurances made to the Premier League.