Chelsea makes dramatic U-turn on demand to have FA Cup tie played behind closed doors

• Chelsea have decided not to pursue their request to have the FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough played behind closed doors
• The FA confirmed the new development which came only hours after Chelsea’s initial request
• The Blues have only sold between 500 and 600 tickets for the FA Cup clash prior to sanctions that crippled the sale of tickets last Thursday

Chelsea have made a dramatic U-turn on their request to have Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final clash against Middlesbrough played behind closed doors.

The West London club are not allowed to sell any more tickets as part of the ongoing sanctions by the UK government on the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Initially, Sports Brief reported that Chelsea had tabled the request to have the game played without fans on grounds of ‘Sporting integrity’.

But a statement from the FA on the evening of Tuesday, March 15 confirmed that the request had been withdrawn.

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"After constructive talks between the FA and Chelsea, the club has agreed to remove their request," the FA said as quoted by BBC.

"The FA remains in ongoing discussions with Chelsea, the Premier League and the government to find a solution that would enable both Chelsea fans to attend games and away fans to attend Stamford Bridge, while ensuring sanctions are respected."

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On Thursday, March 10, it was confirmed that Chelsea was among the assets belonging to Roman Abramovic that was sanctioned for his close links with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The move sanction the club meant Chelsea could no longer sell tickets, and by the time they were dealt the blow, the club had reportedly only sold 600 tickets for the FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough.

Chelsea has played two Premier League games since the sanctions were imposed, winning both games against Norwich City and Newcastle.

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Days after the Newcastle win and Chelsea, with only a maximum of 600 tickets of their 4,620 allocated sold for the Middlesbrough clash sold, requested to have the Saturday’s game played behind closed doors.

Middlesbrough soon issued a rejoinder, saying the request was "bizarre" and "ironic", and the Championship club vowed to resist Chelsea’s closed doors attempt.

Hours later and the FA announced Chelsea had withdrawn their initial request.

The fate of Chelsea’s UCL clash in Lille

All this was happening as Uefa confirmed that the Champions League clash involving Chelsea and Lille would go on as planned despite the EU slapping additional sanctions on Abramovic on Tuesday.

As reported by Sports Brief, the tie will be televised live on Russian state-owned television following a decree by President Vladimir Putin.

While UEFA has suspended all Russian teams from competing, the broadcast contracts in Russia are yet to be yanked off, meaning the Champions League will be shown in the country.