Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel has stated that his players would be unable to go to Middlesbrough for the FA Cup quarter-final by flight, owing to the effect of the sanctions put on the club by the UK Government as a result of owner Roman Abramovich’s strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Instead, they’ll have to travel 536 miles from their Surrey training camp to the Riverside Stadium, which would take them 10 hours.
Chelsea’s next encounter is in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday night against Lille of France. Travel arrangements, which were made before the sanctions were imposed, has kept the team’s movement plans intact.
But Saturday’s FA Cup match against Middlesbrough will be the first to be impacted, as plans were not in place before the sanctions, resulting in a 10-hour round-trip by bus.
The Stamford Bridge club has been informed that the £20,000 per-match travel expense cap imposed by the UK Government will not cover the cost of renting a plane to take them to the Riverside Stadium.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that their preparations will be tough after their trip to France is over ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 second-leg match with Lille.
Tuchel said, “We want to find solutions, we want to play the match on Saturday as much as we want to play in the Champions League.
“We have a framework to play in Lille with no excuses. It is difficult to arrange things in the best way possible for the FA Cup, but we will deal with it.
“It isn’t about luxury and bling-bling. This is just a pro-level of sports, where we play with two days between matches with our opponent having four days between matches and we arrive with the possibilities of injuries.
“For that, it is better to arrive with a plan rather than a bus.”
In response to the looming travel concerns, Kai Havertz stated that he would gladly pay for his travel to Middlesbrough and future games, provided that the fixtures will hold.
He said, “I would pay, no problem. That’s not a big deal for us.
“To come to the games is the most important. There are harder moments in the world, than [worry about] taking the plane or bus to away games.”
