{"id":1022864,"date":"2022-03-16T02:23:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T02:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/16\/chelsea-ask-for-middlesbrough-fa-cup-game-to-be-played-behind\/"},"modified":"2022-03-16T02:23:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T02:23:54","slug":"chelsea-ask-for-middlesbrough-fa-cup-game-to-be-played-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/03\/16\/chelsea-ask-for-middlesbrough-fa-cup-game-to-be-played-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea ask for Middlesbrough FA Cup game to be played behind"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Chelsea have asked with \u201cextreme reluctance\u201d that their FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough be played behind closed doors for \u201cmatters of sporting integrity\u201d after they were unable to sell further tickets for the fixture.<\/p>\n

The west London club are currently operating under a special licence after Russian owner Roman Abramovich had his assets frozen following his country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

That licence allows the club to run a number of football-related activities but forbids the sale of new tickets past the March 10 deadline when the sanctions were imposed.<\/p>\n

The club released a statement\u00a0saying it had lobbied the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation about amending its licence but were unable to agree a change in time.<\/p>\n

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It added that the club had now asked with \u201cextreme reluctance\u201d for the match to be played behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite 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,\u201d began the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cExecutives 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cChelsea 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club added that it would continue its dialogue with the OFSI.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s match with Newcastle on Sunday was a sell-out as all tickets were sold prior to March 10. Moving forward, only the 28,000 season ticket holders or any fans who bought tickets for matches prior to that date, will be able to attend Chelsea home matches.<\/p>\n

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