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

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.”

Jamie Carragher has accused Chelsea fans of being “hypocrites” over their complaints about sanctions against Roman Abramovich negatively impacting the club.

The Chelsea owner had his assets frozen last Thursday after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the government of the United Kingdom describing Abramovich as having “clear connections” to Vladimir Putin.

The billionaire had announced his intention to sell the club he bought in 2003, and was disqualified as a director by the Premier League on Saturday after the sanctions were announced.

It leaves Chelsea unable to conduct usual club business, including a ban on any player transfers and the sale of further tickets or merchandise to fans.

Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, said that he does not want Chelsea to “go to the wall”, and suggested there are aspects of their plight that he feels bad about.

However the former Liverpool and England centre-half believes that the club have “taken advantage of every other club” since the arrival of the mega-rich Abramovich in 2003, with his resources enabling Chelsea to operate in such a manner. Carragher wrote in his column for The Telegraph that Manchester United should target Tuchel amid the uncertainty at Stamford Bridge.

“There were more than a few moments of tension at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but very few were related to where the ball was going.

“Perhaps the most nervousness came between Chelsea fans themselves, as there was an unmistakable trepidation about whether some would sing about Roman Abramovich. Beyond a few smatterings that were quickly shouted down, there was mercifully none of that. It was to the credit of the majority of home supporters.

“It also meant that the most tension was in the dressing room, and it was only tangentially connected to Chelsea.

“Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was asked about the unavoidable political context of the game given the club’s ownership, how a Saudi Arabian flag was seen in the away end, and the fact the same country executed 81 people on Saturday.

“’I’m just going to answer questions on the game and football,’ Howe said. ‘I’m still bitterly disappointed from the defeat so I think it’s only right that I stick to football’.”

As Miguel Delaney writes, Howe’s response showed that in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the game is now having to confront uncomfortable questions it thought it could indefinitely put off. [Premium]

Former Chelsea player Graeme Le Saux has joined in on the backlash over the club’s statement requesting for their FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors.

“I can’t think of a more embarrassing statement to come out of the club that I played for for 12 [years]. Either ignorant or arrogant. I am confident it doesn’t represent the feelings of the coaching and playing staff,” Le Saux wrote on Twitter.

Kai Havertz has said that he is prepared to pay for Chelsea’s travel to away fixtures after the sanctions against Roman Abramovich restricted the club’s budget.

Chelsea can only spend £20,000 on travel for each away fixture after Abramovich was disqualified as a director following the freezing of his assets by the government of the United Kingdom last week due to his ties to Vladimir Putin.

The club had already booked and paid for the second leg trip to Lille in the Champions League this week, but visit Middlesbrough on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and could be forced to make the journey with a reduced travelling party.

A flight north has reportedly been deemed too expensive, though the club are said to be attempting to convince the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to increase their budget.

Chelsea’s request to have their FA Cup quarter-final fixture at Middlesbrough played behind closed doors has elicited a response from the government, but not quite the one they were hoping for.

The ongoing sanctions placed on owner Roman Abramovich include Chelsea forced to accept no additional income being allowed from ticket sales, which as the away side for this cup tie means they have to face the fixture without any supporters at all.

As such, the Blues asked for the game to take place without fans from either side in place to avoid “sporting integrity” being at risk, prompting Boro to reply that the request was “bizarre and without any merit whatsoever”.

Now the government are widely reported to have replied along the same lines, with a senior government source quoted as directing the club to focus on far more over-arching matters than a single match: “We are working around the clock to enable Chelsea to continue operating as a club in the interests of the fans.

“This statement threatening Middlesbrough and the rest of the Football League shows they do not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation they are in, being owned by an entity that has been sanctioned because of links to a person responsible for appalling acts in Ukraine.

“We are not opposed to Chelsea having fans at games in the long run, but we will not allow money from ticket sales to flow to a sanctioned entity. Chelsea should spend less time worrying about having a few thousand fans at one game, and focus on moving their club into the hands of someone who isn’t linked to a warmonger.”

Several rival Chelsea suitors have approached Nick Candy on joining the British property tycoon’s bid for the Stamford Bridge club, the PA news agency understands.

Billionaire property developer Candy has the financing in place for his Chelsea bid, which the 49-year-old believes will be a very attractive consortium proposition.

Investment fund Citadel is thought to have held talks with Candy on underpinning his bid to buy the Blues.

But the lifelong Chelsea fan is understood to be yet to finalise the finer details of his purchase proposal.

Roman Abramovich’s UK Government sanctions have accelerated the Russian-Israeli billionaire’s Chelsea sale, with merchant bank the Raine Group setting a deadline for bids of March 18.

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Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has said Chelsea’s request to play Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final behind closed doors is “pathetic” while calling Blues counterpart Bruce Buck “an excuse of a man” over the proposal.

Chelsea have asked the FA for Saturday’s match to be played at an empty stadium after they were denied from selling any more away tickets for the fixture due to the sanctions placed on club owner Roman Abramovich.

Middlesbrough branded Chelsea’s request as “bizarre and without merit” in a strongly-worded statement, adding that Chelsea’s claim of “sporting integrity” being put at risk was “ironic in the extreme”.

In a statement to the The Times, Gibson went a step further. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe this excuse of a man, [Chelsea chairman] Bruce Buck. To try this is just unbelievable,” he said.

“Sporting integrity and Chelsea do not belong in the same sentence. For 19 years Abramovich’s money has fuelled Chelsea’s success. If they were to beat us in the FA Cup, with no fans there, what would that do to the integrity of the competition?

“Are they going to play all their Premier League games behind closed doors too? This is pathetic by Chelsea.”

Middlesbrough have slammed Chelsea over their “bizarre” request to play Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at the Riverside Stadium behind closed doors, adding that it has been been made “without any merit whatsoever”.

Chelsea said earlier on Tuesday that they are unable to sell any more tickets for the FA Cup fixture due to the sanctions placed on club owner Roman Abramovich.

But the Premier League club said they have requested for the match to be played in an empty stadium because “sporting integrity” was at risk if they were made to play without being able to fill their away allocation.

Middlesbrough, who have sold out the Riverside Stadium ahead of the club’s biggest match of the season, responded with a strongly-worded statement and suggested that Chelsea’s claim was “ironic in the extreme”.

The FA have said they had received Chelsea’s request to play the match behind closed doors but that it would not be discussed until Wednesday.

The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust have criticised the club’s request to play their FA Cup quarter-final behind closed doors, saying it “does not benefit any supporters”.

The CST said in a statement: “We have made it clear to the Government and Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston that supporters must be able to watch their team.

“We strongly urge the Government to amend the license and allow supports to obtain tickets. Playing behind closed doors does not benefit any supporters.

“The CST has asked Chelsea to withdraw the request for the Middlesbrough game to be played behind closed doors.”