Chelsea Call For All Fans To Be Banned From FA Cup Match
Chelsea have requested the Football Association (FA) board to have their FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough on Saturday to be played behind closed doors “for matters of sporting integrity”.
The European champions had asked the UK Government to be allowed their full allocation of 4 500 tickets at the Riverside Stadium, but the request was turned down.
Chelsea were barred from selling tickets to their fans after their owner, Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government for alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian state.
The London club said the ban on ticket sales will lead to financial difficulties and they are upset that the Government have not responded to their pleas.
Chelsea were also exasperated that their plea to give away tickets for the Middlesbrough game for free did not receive a response from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). A Chelsea statement said:
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.
