Chelsea withdraw request to have Middlesbrough FA Cup tie played behind closed doors

Planet Sport writer
15 March 2022

The two teams will meet on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the Riverside Stadium.

After Middlesbrough hit back at Chelsea's request to play their FA Cup quarter-final tie behind closed doors, the Blues have since withdrawn the request.

Boro initially replied to the request, stating the club would "resist Chelsea's actions in the strongest terms".

The upcoming match will take place at the Riverside - the home of Middlesbrough - which has a capacity of 34,742.

Chelsea's ticket sales were suspended last Thursday after Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the government over his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Abramovich must not profit in the UK under the sanctions in place, and Chelsea season ticket holders are the only fans allowed to attend games at Stamford Bridge until further notice.

It left Chelsea supporters unable to attend the upcoming FA Cup fixture on the weekend, and ahead of the match the club requested the game to be played behind closed doors to ensure 'sporting integrity'.

However, Middlesbrough responded, labelling it 'bizarre and without merit whatsoever'.

"All concerned are well aware of the reasons Chelsea have been sanctioned and that this has nothing to do with Middlesbrough Football Club," the Middlesbrough's club statement said.

"To suggest as result that MFC and our fans should be penalised is not only grossly unfair but without any foundation.

"Given the reasons for these sanctions, for Chelsea to seek to invoke sporting "integrity" as reason for the game being played behind closed doors is ironic in the extreme.

"We currently await formal notification from the FA of the next steps but rest assured MFC will resist Chelsea's actions in the strongest terms."

After the government and FA both spoke out about Chelsea's appeal, the club decided to withdraw their request.

An FA spokesperson said, "After constructive talks between the FA and Chelsea, the club has agreed to remove their request for the Emirates FA Cup quarter-final tie against Middlesbrough to be played behind closed doors.

"The FA remains in ongoing discussions with Chelsea, the Premier League and the Government to find a solution that would enable both Chelsea fans to attend games and away fans to attend Stamford Bridge, whilst ensuring sanctions are respected."

'Fairest way' to proceed

Chelsea - with around £1billion worth of talent in their squad - would've deprived Middlesbrough of profits from ticket sales had the match taken place behind closed doors.

Middlesbrough ticket update.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 15, 2022

"We are disappointed to announce we will not be able to sell tickets for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough," read a Chelsea statement.

"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 19:30pm 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."

Tuchel questions Boris Johnson's priorities

Thomas Tuchel has questioned Boris Johnson after the Prime Minister urged Chelsea fans to stop chanting Roman Abramovich's name.

A minority of fans were heard singing his name throughout their 1-0 win over Newcastle United on the weekend, something the PM condemned.

And head coach Tuchel was left nonplussed by the intervention, amid Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine.

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."