Thomas Tuchel DIDN'T KNOW Chelsea will have a limited crowd vs Arsenal

Thomas Tuchel reveals he DIDN’T KNOW Chelsea will play with a limited crowd at Stamford Bridge against Arsenal as sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich start to bite – and urges ticket holders who can go ‘to push a bit more’ on Wednesday night

  • Thomas Tuchel has admitted he did not know the ticketing situation at Chelsea 
  • The club will have a smaller crowd at Stamford Bridge vs Arsenal on Wednesday 
  • Blues owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British government
  • And Tuchel urged the fans that are going to ‘push a bit more’ to make some noise 

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he did not know Chelsea would have to play in front of a smaller crowd at Stamford Bridge due to sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich.

The Blues host Arsenal in West London on Wednesday night, with the number of fans set to be limited to around 25,000 season-ticket holders only, compared to its capacity of more than 40,000.

And manager Tuchel revealed he was unaware of the ticket situation, calling on fans to ‘push a bit more’ to make up for the lack of supporters.

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he did not know Chelsea have to play in front of a smaller crowd

Recommended:

Boss Thomas Tuchel called on fans to ‘push a bit more’ to make the up for the lack of crowds

When informed that it would only be season-ticket holders there, the German looked quizzical before the situation was explained to him by the club’s press officer.

Tuchel then added: ‘Oh, OK. Erm, that is not an advantage because we want to play home matches and in general we want to play in front of a full stadium and the game is for the spectators and supporters. That’s bad news, actually.

‘I was not aware of it. Maybe someone told me and I forgot it! Let’s turn things around, maybe everyone (there) is aware of that and pushes a little bit more. We lack quantity but we should not lack quality of support.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich (pictured) has been sanctioned by the UK government

‘Against Leicester last season after Covid, it was the first time spectators were allowed at the Bridge, it was like 15,000 and the players said it felt like a full stadium. So hopefully, we can be the spark that can bring everybody into a (better) mood.’

As part of the sanctions against Russian Abramovich as part of the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chelsea cannot sell any new tickets, but existing ticket holders can attend matches – allowing season ticket holders a reprieve.

The oligarch, described by the UK government as having a ‘close relationship’ with Russian president Vladimir Putin, is not allowed to financially benefit from his running of Chelsea. He announced in March he would be selling the club.




Share this article


Source: Read Full Article