The Chelsea Supporters' trust have come out in opposition to the the club's request to play their FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough behind closed doors.
The Blues failed to secure a change to the licence placed upon them, in the wake of Roman Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK government, that would allow them to sell tickets for the clash. Chelsea had to meet Middlesbrough's deadline of 9.30am on Tuesday to confirm their stadium allocation. This had already been extended from 7.30pm on Monday.
The club had sold near to 600 tickets before their restrictions came into play and informed those supporters yesterday they would be able to attend the match at the Riverside. The club's statement cited 'sporting integrity' as the reason behind their request in a move that would leave future matches at Stamford Bridge under consideration with Chelsea now allowed to sell tickets to non-season ticket holding supporters, including opposition fans.
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The Supporters'' Trust statement said: "The CST has made it clear to the government and the sports minister that supporters must be able to watch their team. We strongly urge the government to amend the license and allow supporters to obtain tickets. Playing behind closed doors does not benefit supporters. The CST has asked Chelsea to withdraw the request for the Middlesbrough game to be played behind closed doors."
The FA will reject any such request from Chelsea, especially considering the volume of tickets already sold to Chelsea fans before sanctions were imposed last week. One source has told football.london that the club may find much of the goodwill it has received in the past five days diminished following their request.
