Middlesbrough have dismissed Chelsea's request to have the clubs' upcoming FA Cup meeting played behind closed doors as "bizarre and without any merit whatsoever".
Chelsea are currently operating under a restricted licence after Roman Abramovich, owner of the club since 2003, was placed on the UK government's sanctioned individuals list. This means they are not able to sell tickets beyond those already sold when the sanctions were announced, with away games impacted heavily.
The Championship side's chairman Steve Gibson has also addressed the claims, stressing that those at his club have done nothing wrong and claiming they should not be punished for Chelsea's situation. Chelsea's request comes after they confirmed the deadline to sell away tickets had passed without them being able to secure amendments to the new licence which would allow them to take a full allocation of fans to the Riverside Stadium.
