Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel revealed he has not had a conversation with owner Roman Abramovich, following the club statement revealed on Saturday night regarding the care of the club.
The statement came three days after Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine, with the British Government claiming they will bring sanctions upon the Russian state and those associated.
Roman Abramovich has always denied close links to that of Russian president Vladimir Putin, but says he has taken the decision to step back in order to protect the club.
The statement on the official website reads: “During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities.
“I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values.
“That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.
“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans.”
It cast some doubt over the future of the Blues, just under 24 hours before the side were set to step out onto the hallowed turf of Wembley for the Carabao Cup final.
The side face Liverpool, though the situation and reports regarding Abramovich did cause a distraction to the players, according to Tuchel on Friday.
Ahead of the big clash, the German coach was asked on Sky Sports as to whether he has had a conversation with the owner about the decision and said: “No, no we have not which is absolutely not unusual because I have a daily conversation with Petr Cech and a very regular conversation with Marina - they’re both in charge, both in charge of football and from my understanding they will stay in charge so that will not change a lot for me actually.
“I did also not say it was difficult, it was just a distraction of course because we are aware, we’re watching news and people are concerned and, like we said, we are like also shocked of the situation in Ukraine.
“So, this was more or less it but at the end approaching this final, big final, we allowed ourselves also to be sportsmen, to be football players and we allowed ourselves to focus on this match of football and to a certain degree enjoy it because we know they are like much, much more important things out there than football and still we are here to play a match of football and this is what the players also deserve and spectators as well.”
The full details and impact of the statement will likely be clarified in the future, though for the time being, they will surely have a closer eye on the impact of today’s cup final at Wembley.
