Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that “not a lot will change for me” after the club’s owner Roman Abramovich announced he was stepping back following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a surprise statement on Saturday night, Abramovich said he was passing “stewardship and care” of the club to a board of trustees, headed by Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck.
The move comes after Labour MP Chris Bryant called for Abramovich’s assets to be frozen or seized by the UK government - which has already sanctioned a number of other Russian oligarchs - in light of the situation in Ukraine.
Despite distancing himself from the running of the club, however, Abramovich remains the Chelsea’s owner and has no intention of selling up.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, Tuchel said he had not been in contact with Abramovich since his statement was released, but said he did not expect it to impact the football side of the club’s operations.
The German said: ”I have daily conversations with Petr Cech and very regularly with Marina [Granovskaia] - they’re in charge of football and it’s my understanding they will stay in charge so it will not change a lot for me.”
Speaking on Friday, before the Abramovich announcement, Tuchel had admitted that the increased scrutiny had brought “uncertainty” to the club ahead of Sunday’s final.
“It was difficult, it was a distraction,” he reiterated, speaking to Sky Sports ahead of kick-off. “We are watching the news and like other people we are concerned. We are also shocked by the situation in Ukraine.
“We are approaching this final, a big final, and we allowed ourselves to be sportsmen and to be football players, and we allowed ourselves to focus on this match of football and to a certain degree enjoy it.
“I know there are much more important things in the world than football but we are here to play a match of football and this is what the players deserve and the spectators as well.”
