Chelsea Chelsea Confirms It Cannot Sell Tickets Ahead FA Cup Tie

Chelsea FC has confirmed that it was unable to sell tickets for Saturday’s FA Cup game against Middlesbrough.

The Blues is still reeling from the UK government‘s decision last Thursday to impose sanctions due to owner Roman Abramovich‘s close links with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

And those sanctions, including a £20,000 spend on travel costs for away matches, will hit the first team at the weekend.

Read Also:Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea react to UK Government sanctions

The club in a statement said despite engaging in extensive discussions with the Office of the Financial Sanctions, there has been no positive answer.

The statement reads;

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.”


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