Tuchel sends a sarcastic letter to the British Parliament
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed that the English Premier League club is treating the restrictions imposed by the British government on its operations in a professional manner and will do everything in its power to cross the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against its host on Wednesday night.
The British government imposed sanctions on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and under the terms of the government’s license, Chelsea’s operations are now limited in scope.
Tuchel said the European champions had had to make adjustments to the number of personnel traveling to Lille and that such discussions had never occurred before with an operations team taking care of all their needs.
“We have to adapt to the new conditions,” Tuchel told reporters on the eve of the second leg in France, where Chelsea lead 2-0 from the first leg. There are new things like match arrangements that we usually don’t care about. We are working within a specific framework now. We will not make excuses. It is already difficult to arrange things in the best possible way for the FA Cup quarter-final match against Middlesbrough on Saturday. As long as we have the shirts and as long as we survive we will arrive, we will be competitive and fight hard for our success. We owe it to the people who usually support us. Of course, we are in the spotlight but that is our responsibility.”
Tuchel added that he had had no choice but to be the club’s voice during a turbulent two-week period and said he would continue to answer any questions about any new owner.
“A new owner should arrive after it’s approved, then we can discuss it if necessary,” Tuchel explained. There is a process that defines the procedures for club ownership in this league, and of course, everyone depends on this process and the values behind the decisions. I don’t think much about it being the voice of the club. I try to be honest, give you insight and give you information from the heart of the coach. This is what I’m trying.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Chelsea fans not to chant Abramovich as “totally inappropriate under the circumstances”, but Tuchel said he did not want to comment on the matter.
“I don’t know if this is the most important topic that will be discussed in Parliament,” Tuchel said. And if that’s the case, we may have to worry about the priority of the discussions there. There are more pressing things to be discussed and dealt with.
