Chelsea asks to play without an audience by veto to sell tickets

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea requested that her FA Cup match against Middlesbrough be played without an audience because the government does not allow her any entry under the terms of the license she received to operate following sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich.

The London club said that its request seeks to protect the “sports integrity” of the quarterfinal crossing after not being able to convince the entity in charge of applying the sanctions that would be more benevolent for the match this Saturday.

Middlesbrough said it would be “grossly unfair, but baseless” to prevent his fans from going to the match. The English Football Federation will discuss Chelsea's request during a meeting on Wednesday.

Abramovich's assets were frozen after he was sanctioned by the British government last week for his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

“With extreme resignation we have asked the FA board to order the match to be played behind closed doors for issues of sports integrity,” Chelsea said in a statement. “Chelsea FC recognizes that such an outcome greatly affects Middlesbrough and its fans, as well as ours who purchased a limited number of tickets that were sold before the license was applied, but we believe it is the fairest way to proceed under the current circumstances.”

Chelsea fans could have gone to Middlesbrough with the tickets they bought prior to the sanctions against Abramovich.