Chelsea may not be able to pay wages of staff, says Petr Cech
The Blues are hopeful the government will this week grant a second licence to allow the club to be sold
Chelsea’s precarious future remains deeply uncertain as Petr Cech admitted that he did not know if the club would be able to pay the wages of staff.
Chelsea are hopeful the government will this week grant a second licence to allow the club to be sold, as well as approving amendments that mean they can operate as normal, after Roman Abramovich, their Russian owner, was sanctioned.
The club cannot sell tickets or merchandise and are prevented from signing players and offering new contracts.
After their first Premier League match since the sanctions were announced, and with a Champions League tie fast approaching, Chelsea begin a crucial week:
Tuchel’s team, who beat Newcastle United 1-0 on Sunday, are due to travel to France on Tuesday for the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie with Lille on Wednesday, but their arrangements have been put in doubt by the terms of the licence, which placed an initial £20,000 cap on travel for away games.
“I have to admit, we go day by day,” Cech, Chelsea’s technical adviser, said. “We don’t have this in our hands. The conversations are going on [so] that we can actually operate in a way to finish the season.
“We hope the situation will be clearer soon. We hope that the people working for the club will be able to get their salaries and to live their lives and work. But this is a difficult question for me. I don’t have the answers.
“We have the board and people in the club talking to the government over how we can operate and carry on. We try to do the best we can day by day and prepare for every game.”
As the list of potential buyers of the club continues to take shape, Tuchel admitted that everyone employed by Premier League clubs should be questioning the competition’s owners’ and directors’ test during the takeover process.
Nick Candy, the British property tycoon, is still in the picture and attended Sunday’s match against Newcastle, while three American-led consortiums are also among the contenders to buy the club. Bidders must submit offers this week, which will then be subject to government approval.
