Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder has stressed he has no sympathy for Chelsea amid the Premier League side's predicament.
The Blues have been plunged into uncertainty since the decision from the UK government to add owner Roman Abramovich to the list of sanctioned individuals. The London club were not permitted to sell any more away tickets to stadiums, meaning fewer than 1,000 Blues fans made the trip to the Riverside Stadium for an FA Cup meeting with Boro, with Chelsea continuing to function under a special licence while the future of the club is resolved.
Wilder described the request as "baffling", echoing comments made by his club's chairman Steve Gibson in the light of Chelsea's query. And the manager, who has spent much of his career outside the Premier League, invoked troubles faced by other English clubs when playing down the seriousness of the top-flight club's woes.
"The club is not in jeopardy, is it?" Wilder said ahead of kickoff. "It's not a situation like a Macclesfield or a Bury in the football pyramid.
Bury were expelled from the EFL in 2019 amid financial issues. Macclesfield Town, meanwhile, found themselves subject to a winding-up order in 2020 after financial problems of their own.
"[Chelsea] will go up for sale and it will be bought by a billionaire, who will possibly invest more money into it, so I don't think there is - in the football world - an incredible amount of sympathy over what's happening," Wilder continued. Chelsea have seen a number of interested parties come forward since Abramovich announced he would be selling the club.
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"It was certainly a decision that was met universally with displeasure. It was baffling," Wilder said when quizzed on Chelsea's request to move the game behind closed doors. Boro themselves hit back after the request was made, questioning why they should be punished for their opponents' situation when it was nothing to do with them.
"All concerned are well aware of the reasons Chelsea have been sanctioned and that this has nothing to do with Middlesbrough Football Club," Boro's statement read. "To suggest as result that MFC and our fans should be penalised is not only grossly unfair but without any foundation.
"Given the reasons for these sanctions, for Chelsea to seek to invoke sporting "integrity" as reason for the game being played behind closed doors is ironic in the extreme. We currently await formal notification from the FA of the next steps but rest assured MFC will resist Chelsea's actions in the strongest terms."
“The words 'sporting integrity' and Chelsea don't belong in the same sentence," chairman Gibson told Telegraph Sport. "For 19 years, money has fuelled the success of Chelsea Football Club".
Chelsea had cited "matters of sporting integrity" in their request, acknowledging their "extreme reluctance in taking the measures". However, the request was later withdrawn by the Premier League club.
