DON’T BE DUMB
Tuchel blasts Chelsea fans over crass Abramovich chants Roman’s £3bn asking price makes no sense, insist suitors
THOMAS TUCHEL last night condemned Chelsea fans who chanted for support for Roman Abramovich during a minute of solidarity for Ukraine before their 4-0 win at Burney — as the future ownership of the club continued to be the subject of frenzied speculation.
In a day of sporting support for Ukraine around the world, pressure intensified for any individual associated with Vladimir Putin to be sanctioned, meaning Blues owner Abramovich potentially faces time pressure to dispose of his assets. The Government will tomorrow introduce the Economic Crime Bill, which could make it easier to sanction individuals alleged to be close to President Putin.
In further developments, Bob Ratcliffe, chief executive of Ineos Football and brother of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who were only prospective UK bidders for Chelsea, confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that they wouldn’t pursue previous interest in the club — with Abramovich said to want £3billion.
‘People have never paid these valuations,’ said Ratcliffe, whose company owns Nice in the French league. ‘They’re very difficult for us to reconcile. You’re talking about numbers which in a normal business sense you wouldn’t go near. You have seen what my brother said in the past: we don’t want to be dumb money. We look at what we paid for Nice, it’s nothing like what you pay in UK.’
Chelsea supporters were widely condemned, including by Tuchel, for interrupting the solidarity for
show of support for the Russian owner, who announced on Wednesday that he would sell the club.
‘It was not the moment to do this,’ said Tuchel. ‘If we show solidarity, we show solidarity and we show it together.
‘We take the knee together. If an important person from another club or from our club unfortunately dies, we show a minute of respect.’
A significant section of the away contingent at Turf Moor chanted ‘Roman Abramovich’ during the one minute of applause organised in response to Russia’s invasion, leading to extended booing from the Burnley support and a hostile response from the football world on social media.
‘It’s not the moment to give other messages, it’s a moment to show respect,’ added Tuchel. ‘We do this because this is what we are as a club. We show respect as a club and we need our fans to commit to this minute of applause in the moment we do it for Ukraine.
‘There is no second opinion about the situation there and they have our thoughts and our support and we should stand together as a club. ‘It was not the moment for other messages.’
As well as putting Chelsea up for sale, Abramovich also announced he would write off Chelsea’s debts to him and donate ‘net proceeds’ from the deal to victims of the war in Ukraine.
Chelsea stunned Burnley with three goals in the space of nine second-half minutes on their way to their 4-0 victory at Turf Moor.
Reece James, making his first start of 2022 after injury, got the first a couple of minutes into the second half and then had a hand in the next two - both finished by Kai Havertz - with Burnley imploding as they lost back-to-back home league games for the first time this season.
It got worse for the hosts with a little more than 20 minutes to go when a mistake from James Tarkowski left Christian Pulisic with the easiest of finishes from barely a yard out.
Playing only their second league fixture since the 2-0 win over Tottenham on January 23 — during which time they have become world champions, advanced in the FA Cup and lost the Carabao Cup final — Chelsea strengthened their grip on third place with a seventh win in eight Premier League visits to Turf Moor.