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Chelsea have released a statement pressing the UK Government for an update on their current sanctions as they still hope to sell tickets for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been hit by Government sanctions in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and those sanctions mean that the Blues are unable to sell tickets for games.
The UK Government placed special licenses on the Stamford Bridge club to ensure they can complete the season, but as of March 10 the club were unable to sell any more match tickets, creating an uncertainty over their allocation (understood to be around 4,500) for the Riverside trip.
In a statement, the club have said they still hope to sell tickets ahead of Saturday’s game, which sees both Boro and Chelsea square off at the Riverside for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals and a trip to Wembley.
The statement read: “We are pressing the Government to allow our supporters to have access to tickets. Meetings are taking place daily in search of a resolution. In addition, the Premier League and FA are also discussing with the Government the sporting integrity issues raised if they do not permit fans to attend.
“We are aware of the high level of frustration our supporters are facing over this issue, and we are doing everything we can to resolve it as soon as possible.”
Boro have sold out their sections of the ground for the game, though there was some hopes that Chelsea might return some of their allocation allowing Boro to sell more.
Chelsea will have some supporters at the Riverside having sold a first-phase batch of tickets the day before the sanctions were put in place by the Government, with historically purchased tickets allowed to be honoured. It’s not known how many they sold in that phase, however.
Updating specifically on the Boro game, Chelsea’s statement continued: “Supporters who have already purchased a ticket can attend the match. Tickets will be sent out in the post tomorrow (Tuesday).
“We have the remaining tickets for our allocation, but we are awaiting further updates from the Government on whether we can sell these tickets or not before Saturday’s game.
“Should we be able to sell these tickets, they will be sent out via Royal Mail Special Delivery owing to the shortness of times. Further information will be released as soon as we have it.”
For now, it continues to be a waiting game for Boro, though importantly they won’t lose out financially if the Premier League side are unable to sell any more of their tickets, with Chelsea buying their allocation in advance before selling them on to supporters.
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