Thomas Tuchel says he is “still happy” to be Chelsea’s head coach but admits he and the team “cannot influence” the situation after the club’s owner Roman Abramovich was hit by sanctions from the UK government.
The sanctions – which were handed down on Thursday morning – have resulted in Abramovich’s assets being frozen, plus “a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions”.
The sanctions are intended to stop the 55-year-old from making any money in the UK – and this includes from Chelsea.
Speaking for the first time since the sanctions were placed on Abramovich, Tuchel said: “I don’t know if I’m concerned but we are aware of it and it changes almost every day. We cannot do much about it.
“I’m still happy to be here, still happy to be manager of a strong football team and I’m happy to play the match today. I know there’s a lot of noise around and still we allow ourselves to try our best to focus on football.”
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Asked whether returning to Premier League action would be a relief for him and his players given the day’s events, Tuchel said: “Relief would mean we struggle with all the information and the news out there.
“It is quite a big change from yesterday to today, but we cannot influence it. We didn’t cause the situation. In the moment, it seems like business – football-wise – is more or less protected. But let’s see – it can change tomorrow.
“It’s not a relief, it’s more personally for me a joy. Even in situations where noise or circumstances are so obvious, I feel privileged to have the chance to be involved in games and coaching football, which I love.”
The government has granted the club a special licence to allow fixtures to be fulfilled – starting with Thursday night’s trip to Norwich – staff to be paid and existing ticket holders to attend matches.
However, Chelsea cannot offer new contracts to players or staff, conduct any transfer business or sell new tickets to matches as things stand.
Abramovich announced earlier this month that he intends to sell the club, but the sanctions mean he is currently unable to do so.
However, an application to sell Chelsea can be made to the government, as long as the Russian-Israeli billionaire does not profit or make any money from the transaction.
More to follow…
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